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CONSIDERATIONS  " 


OK  SOME  OF 


THE     ELEMENTS     AND      CONDITIONS 


ov 


SOCIAL  WELFARE 


HUMAlSr    PEOGEESS 


A.CADEMIC  AND  OCCASIONAL  DI8COUE8ES  AND  OTHEE  PIECES 


a  S.  HKNRY,  P,  I>. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

443    BKOADWAY. 

LONDON:  16  LITTLE  BRITAIN. 

1861. 


Us 


Entebed,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


Q£\  cP  f./^i.  rju^x^ 


*..... 


TO 

MY     FRIEND 


EDWARD    BBCH 


S87340 


PREFACE 


The  pieces  contained  in  this  volume  are  now 
collected  and  published  at  the  request  of  many  of 
my  friends,  particularly  among  my  former  pupils,  at- 
tendants on  my  lectures  in  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity. The  title  under  which  they  appear,  has  been 
given  them  as  being  a  sufficiently  appropriate  in- 
dication of  their  general  scope  and  purport.  The 
reader  will  find  some  repetitions — naturally  enough 
occurring  in  pieces  written  at  intervals  during  so 
long  a  period  on  topics  so  nearly  related.  I  have 
not  thought  it  worth  while  to  attempt  retrenching 
them,  because  in  most  cases  it  could  scarcely  be 
done  without  detriment  to  the  context  where  they 


VI  PREFACE. 

occur.     I   have   therefore  let  them  stand  as  they 
were. 

This  volume  contains  some  things  not  quite 
in  unison  with  the  tone  of  popular  opinion — par- 
ticularly in  relation  to  the  working  of  our  political 
institutions  and  to  our  future  fortunes  as  a  nation. 
On  these  topics  the  utterance  of  honest  censure 
and  prophetic  warning  is  not  only  unacceptable, 
but  quite  likely  to  subject  one  to  odium,  as  want- 
ing in  patriotism.  But  who  is  the  better  lover  of 
his  country,  he  who  lulls  the  people  with  soft  strains 
of  pleasing  adulation,  and  kindles  their  fancy  with 
bright  pictures  of  future  greatness  and  glory  ;  or 
he  who  tells  them  of  the  rocks  and  dangers  that 
are  around  them,  and  of  the  conditions  on  which 
their  safety  depends  ?  I  profess  to  love  my  coun- 
try as  much  as  any  man  that  breathes  ;  but  I  do 
not  think  the  best  way  to  show  it  is  by  perpetual 
eulogies  on  our  superiority  as  a  nation.  I  desire 
for  my  country  a  glorious  future  ;  no  man  can  more 
fervently  pray  for  it ;  but  I  do  not  think  the  best 
way  to  make  it  sure  is  to  be  forever  casting  brilliant 
horoscopes,  without  a  single  suggestion  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  disaster  and  defeat.      At  all  events 


PREFACE.  VU 

there  are  enough  to  flatter  our  self-love  ;  let  one 
faithful  friend  be  permitted  to  point  out  our  faults. 
There  are  enough  to  cry  peace  and  safety  ;  let  one 
voice  of  warning  be  tolerated.  If  there  is  any 
thing  unsound  in  the  principles  and  doctrines  I 
have  propounded  ;  any  thing  erroneous  in  the  con- 
ditions of  social  and  political  salvation  I  have  laid 
down  as  indispensable  ;  any  thing  false  or  over- 
drawn in  the  evils  I  have  sketched  ;  any  thing  un- 
real in  the  dangers  I  have  pointed  out,  let  it  be 
shown  and  no  man  can  be  more  ready  to  acknowl- 
edge it  than  I  shall  be. 

As  to  the  rest,  these  discussions  touch  upon  the 
greatest  problems  of  human  thought,  and  embrace 
questions  of  the  highest  scientific  and  practical  in- 
terest ;  and  I  cannot  but  hope  they  will  be  re- 
garded as  worthy  of  the  candid  consideration  of 
cultivated  and  thoughtful  persons,  whether  or  not 
they  may  agree  with  every  opinion  advanced. 

Nbwburgh,  on  the  Hudson,  ) 
August,  1860.  S 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

The  Importance  op  Elevating  the  Intellectual  Spirit  op  the 
Nation, 1 

A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Phi  Sigma  Nu  Society  of  the 
University  of  Vermont,  Aug.  3, 1837. 

II. 
The  Position  and  Duties  op  the  Educated  Men  op  the  Country,       63 
A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  Geneva 
College,  Aug.  5, 1840. 

III. 

The  True  Idea  op  the  University,  and  its  Relation  to  a  complete 

SYSTEM  OP  Public  Instruction,  109 

An  Address  to  the  Alumni  Association  of  New  York  Univer- 
sity, June  28, 1852. 

IV. 

California  :  the  Historical  Significance  of  its  Acquisition,       .  153 
From  the  American  Review,  April,  1849. 

V. 

The  Providence  op  God  the  Genius  op  Human  History,        .       .  183 
The  Churchman,  May  20, 1864. 


CONTENTS. 


VI. 

Young  America. — The  True  Idea  of  Progress,       .       .       .       .199 
New  York  Daily  Times,  May  2, 1854. 

VII. 

The  Destination  of  the  Human  Race,      .        .        .        .        .        .  209 

A  Discourse  before  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  January, 
1855. 

VIII. 

Remarks  on  Mr.  Bancroft's  Oration  on  Human  Progress,     .        .  268 

American  Quarterly  Church  Review,  July,  1855. 

IX. 

President  Making  :  Three  Letters  to  the  Hon.  Josiah  Quinct,    .  295 

The  Century,  April,  1859. 

Letter  I.  Departure  from  the  Constitution. 
Letter  II.  Evil  Consequences. 
Letter  III.  Are  there  any  Remedies  ? 

X.  jp    «4*"'* 

Politics  and  the  Pulpit, ^^.  816 

XI. 

APPENDIX. 

Corruption,  Violence,  and  Abuse  of  Suffrage,     .       .       .       .401 


THE  IMPOETAIS^CE  OF  ELEYAimG  THE  OTELLECTUAL 
SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATIOl^. 


" ^While  the  employment  of  the  mind  upon  things  purely 

intellectual  is  to  most  men  irksome,  whereas  the  sensitive  powera 
by  our  constant  use  of  them  acquire  strength — the  objects  of  sense 
are  too  often  counted  the  chief  good.  For  these  things  men  fight, 
and  cheat,  and  scramble. 

"  Therefore  in  order  to  tame  mankind  and  introduce  a  sense  of 
virtue,  the  best  human  means  is  to  exercise  their  reason,  to  give 
them  a  glimpse  of  a  world  superior  to  the  sensible ;  and  while  they 
take  pains  to  cherish  and  maintain  the  animal  life,  to  teach  them 
not  to  neglect  the  intellectual." 


THE  BIPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATDTG  THE  LNT- 
TELLECTUAL  SPmiT  OF  THE  NATION. 


I  FEEL  myself  honored  by  the  invitation  that 
has  drawn  me  here  to-day.  It  is  the  first  time  in 
my  life  that  I  visit  these  seats  of  learning ;  but  I 
am  glad  there  are  other  associations  than  those  of 
sight,  which  banish  the  sense  of  strangeness  and 
pleasantly  awaken  the  feeling  of  home.  The  So- 
ciety at  whose  request  I  come  is  itself  a  portion  of  a 
much  larger  community — the  great  Brotherhood  of 
Scholars — composed  of  all  those  who  are  animated 
by  a  common  love  of  good  letters  ;  and  these  Aca- 
demic seats  are,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression, 
one  of  the  fair  Chapters  of  our  Order,  where  the 
humblest  of  its  members  may  be  sure  of  a  Brother's 
welcome.  Festivals  like  this  we  hold  to-day  have  a 
natural  influence  to  quicken  the  scholarly  spirit, 
and  to  brighten  the  golden  chain  that  unites  the  dis- 


4  IMPOKTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

ciples  of  Letters.  Laying  aside  the  cares  of  ordinary 
life,  we  meet  together  as  scholars,  to  indulge  in  the 
free  communication,  of  tfeose  tsyqapnthies  that  are 
common  to  the  lovers  of  good  learning..  The  occa- 
sion has  naturally  suggested  to  me  as.  a  subject  of 
remark — the  importance  of  drawing  closer  together 
the  bonds  of  brotherhood  among  the  lovers  of  let- 
ters, and  of  more  earnest  exertions  to  exalt  the  in- 
tellectual spirit  of  the  nation. 

It  seems  to  me  there  are  some  peculiar  consid- 
erations, connected  with  the  condition  of  our  coun- 
try, that  render  it  exceedingly  desirable  and  im- 
portant, no  less  for  the  welfare  of  the  country  gen- 
erally, than  for  the  more  immediate  interests  of 
truth  and  learning,  that  a  loftier  tone,  and  a  live- 
lier sympathy,  should  pervade  and  connect  the 
whole  body  of  those  who  either  are  themselves  en- 
gaged in  the  higher  pursuits  of  science  and  letters, 
or  appreciate  the  worth  and  value  of  such  pursuits. 
In  this  country,  while  intellectual  activity,  in  its 
higher  departments,  is,  on  the  one  hand,  not  fa- 
vored by  some  causes  that  exist  elsewhere,  it  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  positively  repressed  by  many  un- 
friendly influences,  that  are  either  peculiar  to  our 
country,  or  work  in  a  peculiar  degree.  It  seems 
needful,  then,  to  cast  about  for  something  to  sup- 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.        5 

ply  what  is  wanting,  and  to  counteract  what  is  in- 
jurious ; — to  give  a  quickened  impulse,  a  higher 
flight,  and  a  wider  reach  to  intellectual  exertion  ; 
— and  to  work  such  a  change  in  the  state  of  opin- 
ion and  direction  of  the  public  resources,  as  shall 
secure  to  the  loftier  pursuits  of  truth,  beauty,  and 
letters,  those  fostering  influences  of  which  they  are 
now  so  sadly  destitute. 

Whether  or  not  these  results,  in  any  sufficient 
degree,  can  be  fairly  hoped  for,  they  are  still  ob- 
jects attractive  to  the  imagination  and  to  the  wish- 
es ;  and  at  all  events  we  shall  find  it  interesting  to 
survey  the  present  state  of  cultivation  in  our  coun- 
try, and  the  influences  that  affect  it. 

We  have  among  us  no  learned  order  of  men. 
I  use  the  expression  for  its  convenient  brevity,  not 
meaning  by  it  merely  those  who  are  devoted  to  the 
pursuits  of  learning  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word, 
but  also  all  those  who  give  their  lives  to  intellec- 
tual inquiry  and  production  in  any  of  the  higher 
departments  of  science  and  letters.  We  have  a 
most  respectable  body  of  educated  men,  some  of 
them  engaged  in  the  applications  of  science  to  the 
arts  of  life,  but  most  of  them  exercising  the  difier- 
ent  public  professions.     Whether  or  not  they  are 


b  IMPOETANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

all  adequately  appreciated  and  rewarded,  still  we 
have  such  a  class,  employed  in  working  with,  com- 
bining and  applying — ^in  explaining,  communica- 
ting, and  diffusing,  the  knowledge  already  possessed. 
But  in  addition  to  these  we  want  an  order  of  men 
devoted  to  original  inquiry  and  production,  who 
without  reference  to  the  more  palpable  uses  of 
knowledge  shall  pursue  truth  for  its  own  sake. 
We  need  a  class  of  men  whose  lives  and  powers 
shall  be  exclusively  given  to  exploring  the  higher 
spheres  of  knowledge,  opening  new  sources  of  truth 
and  beauty,  increasing  the  amount  and  extending 
the  domain  of  science.  We  need  an  order  of  men 
who  may  be  free  to  leave  the  mists  and  the  vapors 
that  settle  upon  the  low  grounds  of  the  earth,  and 
getting  themselves  up  into  the  mounjain-tops,  may 
dwell  there  in  a  serene  and  lofty  seclusion  alike 
from  the  goading  of  life's  cares  and  from  the  fe- 
verish stir  and  strife  of  its  coarse  and  beggarly  ele- 
ments, and  in  the  clear  air  beholding  with  pure 
and  tranquil  heart  "the  bright  countenance  of 
Truth,"  may  catch  and  reflect  its  divine  spirit  to 
all  times.  In  short,  we  want  an  order  of  men,  sur- 
rounded with  all  needful  appliances,  and  left  with 
a  free  mind  to  follow  the  impulses  of  their  nature 
in  the  highest  spheres  of  science  and  letters. 


'i'HJfi  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.        7 

Such  an  order  of  men  is  a  component  part  of 
every  sound  and  perfect  body  politic.  It  is  indis- 
pensable to  its  highest  welfare.  "  Man  liveth  not 
by  bread  alone,"  any  more  as  a  nation  than  as  an 
individual. 

We  live  by  Admiration,  Hope,  and  Love, 
And  even  as  these  are  well  and  wisely  fixed, 
In  dignity  of  being  we  ascend. 

Wordsworth. 

National  well-being  consists  in  the  development 
of  the  proper  humanity  of  a  nation — in  the  culti- 
vation and  exercise  of  the  reason  and  moral  nature, 
and  in  the  subordination  to  these  of  all  the  lower 
principles.  It  is  found  in  the  wisdom,  the  intel- 
lectual elevation,  and  the  virtuous  energy  of  a  peo- 
ple ;  and  of  these,  the  light  of  pure  and  lofty  sci- 
ence is  the  quickening  impulse  and  the  genial  nu- 
triment. AU  pure  and  elevated  truth  is  in  itself 
good,  and  it  does  good.  It  is  of  God,  and  it  leads 
to  God  again.  Without  its  noble  inspiration  we 
may  indeed  serve  the  turn  of  this  world's  lowest 
uses  ; — we  can  gain  money,  grow  fat  and  die  ; — 
but  we  are  not  fit  for  the  better  ends  even  of  this 
world.  "  He,"  says  Bishop  Berkeley,  "  who  hath 
not  meditated  much  upon  God,  the  human  soul, 
and  its  chief  good,  may  possibly  make  a  shrewd 


8  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

and  thriving  earth-worm,  but  he  will  indubitably 
make  a  blundering  patriot  and  a  sorry  statesman." 
As  the  well-being  of  individuals  is  in  proportion  to 
the  culture  and  right  exertion  of  those  rational  and 
moral  faculties  which  mark  and  distinguish  our  hu- 
manity, so  the  welfare  of  a  nation  requires  that  the 
select  number  of  those  who  are  endowed  with  pre- 
eminent gifts  of  intellectual  power,  should  be  left 
free,  with  all  observance  and  respect  attending 
them,  to  follow  those  inward  promptings  of  their 
nature  which  mark  their  true  vocation — their  mis- 
sion on  the  earth — the  promotion  of  God's  glory 
by  seeking  and  expMing  the  highest  sources  of 
truth  and  beauty,  for  the  honor  and  instruction  of 
their  country.  Such  minds  should,  in  the  noble 
language  of  Milton,  "  have  liberty  in  the  spacious 
circuits  of  their  musing,  to  propose  to  themselves 
whatever  is  of  highest  hope  and  hardest  attempt- 
ing"— whether  in  "beholding  the  bright  counte- 
nance of  Truth,  in  the  quiet  and  stUl  air  of  de- 
lightful studies,''  or  as  "poets  soaring  high  in  the 
region  of  their  fancies,  with  their  garlands  and 
singing  robes  about  them."  "  These  abilities,"  he 
goes  on,  "  wheresoever  they  be  found,  are  the  in- 
spired gifts  of  God,  rarely  bestowed,  but  yet  "to 
some  in  every  nation,  and  are  of  power,  beside  the 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIKIT  OF  THE  NATION.        9 

office  of  a  pulpit,  to  imbreed  and  cherish  in  a  great 
people  the  seeds  of  virtue  and  public  civility,  to 
allay  the  perturbations  of  the  mind,  and  set  the 
affections  in  a  right  tune." 

,  A  learned  order  is,  moreover,  one  of  the  conser- 
vative powers  of  a  nation,  necessary  in  order  to  check 
the  undue  predominance  of  the  more  gross  and  ma- 
terial elements.  In  this  country  it  is  peculiarly  ne- 
cessary to  counteract  the  overgrowth  and  dangerous 
tendencies  of  the  commercial  and  political  spirit. 
The  overgrowth  of  these  influences  in  other  coun- 
tries is  checked  not  only  by  venerable  institutions 
both  of  religion  and  of  learning,  but  also  by  ancient 
dignities,  more  imposing  forms  of  government,  and 
various  other  causes  which  have  no  place  in  this 
country.  The  only  counteracting  influences  that 
can  be  brought  to  bear  in  this  country  against  the 
undue  love  of  wealth  and  politics,  are  Keligion  and 
Letters  ;  and  religion,  left  as  it  is  to  take  care  of 
itself,  will  be  entirely  inadequate,  unless  the  intel- 
lectual spirit  of  the  nation  be  elevated  by  high  and 
pure  letters. 

There  is  no  theme  so  much  a  favorite  amongst 
us  as  the  glorious  career  and  magnificent  destiny  of 
our  country.     Our  presses  teem  with  gorgeous  vis- 
ions of  the  future.     It  is  the  subject  of  popular  dec- 
1* 


10         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

lamation  througli  tlie  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land.  The  public  mind  has  been  too  much  dazzled 
by  these  brilliant  pictures.  It  is  comparatively  a 
small  thing  that  we  have  drawn  upon  ourselves  the 
sneers  of  other  nations,  who  from  a  distance  are 
more  camly  watching  the  progress  of  our  history. 
Nor  is  it  the  chief  evil  that  comes  of  indulging  these 
self-pleasing  fancies,  that  they  foster  an  overween- 
ing national  pride.  The  greatest  danger  is,  that  we 
shall  fall  into  the  habit  of  looking  upon  it  as  a  set- 
tled and  inevitable  thing  that  we  are  to  become  not 
only  the  largest  and  richest,  but  the  freest,  wisest, 
and  happiest  nation  on  the  globe,  while  we  entirely - 
forget  the  conditions  on  which,  after  all,  our  national 
prosperity  is  suspended.  In  the  confident  tone  of 
these  predictions,  it  seems  to  be  forgotten  that  the 
true  interests  and  permanent  welfare  of  our  nation 
can  be  secured  only  by  maintaining  ourselves  in 
harmony  with  the  universal  and  invariable  laws  of 
the  moral  world.  It  seems  to  be  forgotten  that 
there  are  causes,  in  active  operation  at  this  moment, 
quite  as  powerful  to  work  our  downfall  as  to  secure 
oiir  greatness. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  dangerous  predominance 
of  two  elements  in  our  country. 
*-^"  The  one  is  the  love  of  money.     Our   national 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIKIT  OF  THE  NATION.      11 

character  is  eminently  distinguislied,  and  in  tlie 
view  of  other  nations  disgraced,  hy  this  trait.  The 
whole  mass  of  society,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom, 
is  heaving  with  the  restless  struggle  for  gain.  It 
takes,  indeed,  in  many  of  its  manifestations,  a  cast 
of  grandeur,  from  the  energy  it  calls  forth,  and  the 
vastness  of  the  schemes  it  employs  itself  upon. 
The  boundless  physical  resources  of  the  country  are 
unfolding  with  unparalleled  rapidity.  The  din  and 
bustle  of  internal  improvement  is  ringing  from  one 
end  of  the  land  to  the  other.  The  country  is  grow- 
ing rich  beyond  all  computation  ;  and  almost  every 
man  in  the  country  is  hastening  to  be  rich.  Now 
it  is  not  necessary  to  quarrel  with  this  development 
of  the  physical  resources  of  our  land.  But  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  be  aware  of  the  corresponding  dangers  it 
brings,  and  to  guard  against  them.  It  is  needful  to 
feel  that  national  wealth  is  by  no  means  necessarily 
national  well-being  ;  that  merely  to  be  rich  no  more 
makes  the  proper  well-being  of  a  nation,  than  of  an 
individual.  On  the  contrary,  the  natural  tendency 
of  excessive  wealth  is  to  luxury,  and  private  and 
public  corruption.  It  contains  the  germ  of  every 
evil,  and,  unless  checked  and  sanctified  by  higher 
and  happier  influences,  is  sure  to  degrade  a  nation 
— to  blast  its  prosperity,  and  work  its  ruin.     This 


12         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

is  a  truth,  of  which  all  history  is  an  impressive  de- 
monstration. It  is  not  necessary  to  quarrel  with 
the  natural  desire  of  acquisition  ;  but  it  is  necessary 
to  guard  against  its  excess,  and  to  keep  it  subordinate 
to  its  proper  ends.  In  this  country  it  is  excessive. 
It  is  restless,  insatiable,  boundless — unhallowed  and 
unredeemed  by  better  influences,  by  a  superior  and 
pervading  respect  and  love  for  higher  and  nobler  ob- 
jects. For  along  with  this  increase  of  wealth  has 
come  a  prodigious  growth  of  luxury — an  infinite 
multiplication  of  the  means  and  refinements  of  phys- 
ical enjoyment ;  and  we  are  hurrying  on  with  pro- 
digious strides  to  a  state  of  excessive  civilization 
without  due  cultivation — of  luxurious  indulgence 
and  the  refinements  of  pleasure,  without  a  propor- 
tionate growth  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture, 
without  a  lively  and  respectful  regard  for  the  less 
material  and  less  vulgar  interests  of  life. 

In  such  a  state  of  things,  the  morals  of  a  nation, 
and  the  tone  of  society,  cannot  but  be  injuriously 
affected.  Unhappily  these  evils  are  but  too  visible. 
The  use  of  a  single  word  sometimes  tells  much  in 
regard  to  the  moral  tone  of  a  nation.  Is  not  a  sad 
state  of  moral  feeling  betrayed  in  a  country  where 
wealth — that  good  old-English  word,  designed  to 
express  the  total  sum  of  the  elements  of  well-being. 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      13 

including  all  that  relates  to  man's  higher  nature 
and  wants — ^has  come  to  mean  nothing  but  money ; 
and  where  worth  is  used  to  tell  how  much  a  man 
has  ?  Yet  so  it  is.  Mr.  Wilkins  hath  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  he  is  worth  five  times  as  much 
as  Mr.  Johnson,  who  hath  but  twenty  thousand, 
while  Mr.  Thompson  hath  none,  and  is  loorth  noth- 
ing. Throughout  the  country  the  great  majority 
of  the  mass  of  the  people  have  a  profound  reverence 
for  nothing  but  money.  Public  office  is  a  partial 
exception.  And  why  should  it  be  otherwise  ?  They 
see  nothing  else  so  powerful.  Eiches  not  only  se- 
cure the  material  ends  of  life — its  pleasures  and  luxu- 
ries ;  but  they  open  the  way  to  all  the  less  material 
objects  of  man's  desire — respect  and  observance, 
authority  and  influence. 

In  the  mean  time  the  tone  of  society  is  de- 
based. 

The  luxury  of  mere  riches  is  always  a  vulgar 
luxury.  It  is  external,  and  devoid  of  good  taste. 
It  always  goeth  about  feeling  its  purse.  It  counteth 
the  fitness  and  propriety  of  its  appointments  by  the 
sum  they  cost.  It  calleth  your  attention  to  its  glit- 
tering equipage,  and  saith  it  ought  to  be  of  the  first 
style,  for  it  cost  the  highest  price.  It  receiveth  you 
to  its  grand  saloons,  and  wisheth  you  to  mark  its 


14  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

furniture.  It  inviteth  you  to  its  table,  and  biddeth 
you  note  the  richness  of  its  plate,  and  telleth  you 
the  price  of  its  wines. 

Th.Q  fasliion  of  mere  riches  is  also  a  vulgar  fash- 
ion. The  butterfly  insignificance  of  its  life  is  not 
even  adorned  by  the  graceful  fluttering  of  its  golden 
wings.  It  is  quite  possible  to  have  the  extrava- 
gance and  frivolity  of  fashionable  life,  without  the 
ease  and  grace,  the  charms  of  wit  and  spirit,  and 
the  elegance  of  mind  and  manners,  that  in  other 
countries  often  adorn  its  real  nothingness,  or  cover 
up  the  coarse  workings  of  jealousy  and  pretension. 

Such  must  always  be  the  tendency  of  things 
where  the  commercial  spirit  acquires  an  undue  pre- 
dominance— where  the  excessive  and  exclusive  re- 
spect for  money  is  not  repressed  by  appropriate 
counter-checks.  In  some  countries  these  checks  to 
the  overgrowth  of  the  commercial  spirit  are  sought 
for  in  venerable  institutions  of  religion  and  letters, 
in  habits  of  respect  for  established  rank,  and  above 
all  by  throwing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  proper- 
ty into  such  a  train  of  transmission,  ias  that  it  be- 
comes the  appendage  and  ornament  of  something 
that  appeals  to  the  higher  sentiments,  something 
that  is  held  in  greater  respect  than  mere  riches,  and 
with  the  possession  of  which  is  connected  high  and 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OP  THE  NATION.      15 

dignified  trusts — a  high  education,  and  the  culture 
and  habit  of  all  lofty  and  generous  sentiments. 
This  is  unquestionably  the  idea  lying  at  the  ground 
of  the  English  aristocracy,  in  the  theory  of  the  Eng- 
lish constitution.  Hence  inalienable  estates,  belong- 
ing not  to  the  man,  but  to  the  dignity ;  where  the 
wealth  is  designed  to  be  only  the  means  of  sustain- 
ing and  adorning  the  dignity — of  fulfilling  its  proper 
trusts — and  of  upholding  those  high  interests  of  the 
country,  of  which  the  possessor  of  the  dignity  is  but 
the  representative  ;  and  where  habits  of  education 
from  generation  to  generation  are  designed  to  teach 
and  impress  the  value  of  many  other  things  above 
mere  wealth,  and  to  connect  with  the  possession 
and  use  of  riches,  honorable  sentiments,  liberal  cul- 
ture, and  the  disposition  to  respect  and  promote  the 
cultivation  of  high  science  and  letters,  and  all  the 
more  spiritual  elements  of  social  well-being.  And 
strong  as  are  our  prejudices  in  this  country,  it  may  at 
least  be  questioned,  whether  a  fair  estimate  of  the 
evils  on  both  sides  would  not  show  that  such  an 
aristocracy  is  in  many  respects  preferable  to  that 
which  otherwise  will  and  must  predominate — the 
aristocracy  of  new  riches,  where  the  elements  of  so- 
ciety are  in  perpetual  fluctuation,  where  the  coarse 
pretensions  of  lucky  speculators,  and  the  vulgar 


16  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

struggles  of  all  to  get  up,  leave  little  room  for  the 
feeling  of  repose  and  respect.* 

The  other  principal  element  of  danger  to  our 
country  is  the  strife  of  party  politics.  The  struc- 
ture of  our  government,  with  all  its  advantages,  is 
attended  with  some  peculiar  perils.  We  are  apt, 
however,  to  be  deluded  by  an  extravagant  opinion 
of  the  efficacy  of  our  form  of  government  in  se- 
curing the  welfare  of  the  nation.  But  there  is  no 
charm '  in  a  form  of  government.  Government  is 
but  the  condition  under  which  the  destiny  of  a  peo- 
ple is  wrought  out  for  good  or  for  evil  by  the  peo- 

*  I  was  struck  with  the  following  passage  in  a  recent  well-writ- 
ten and  agreeable  book  entitled  '■'-  Sketches  of  Switzerland.^''  Speak- 
ing of  the  society  at  Paris,  the  writer  had  introduced  an  anecdote 
illustrating  the  simplicity  of  manners  that  characterized  the  cele- 
brated Duke  de  Valmy ;  he  then  adds,  "  But  I  could  fill  volumes 
with  anecdotes  of  a  similar  nature;  for  in  these  countries,  in  which 
men  of  illustrious  deeds  abound,  one  is  never  disturbed  in  society 
by  the  fussy  pretension  and  swagger  that  is  apt  to  mark  the  pres- 
ence of  a  lucky  speculator  in  the  stocks. 

"  I  have  already  told  you  how  little  sensation  is  produced  in 
Paris  by  the  presence  of  a  celebrity,  though  in  no  part  of  the 
world  is  more  delicate  respect  paid  to  those  who  have  earned  re- 
nown, whether  in  letters,  arts,  or  arms.  Like  causes,  however,  no- 
toriously produce  like  effects;  and  I  think,  under  the  new  regime, 
which  is  purely  a  money-power  system,  directed  by  a  mind  whose 
ambition  is  wealth,  that  one  really  meets  here  more  of  that  swag- 
ger of  stocks  and  lucky  speculations  in  the  world,  than  was  for- 
merly the  case.  Society  is  decidedly  less  graceful,  more  care-worn, 
and  of  a  worse  tone  to-day,  than  it  was  previously  to  the  revolution 
of  1830." 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      17 

pie  themselves.  The  freest  government  is  the  one 
that  is  exposed  to  the  greatest  perils  ;  if  it  does 
not  work  well,  it  must  work  worse  than  others. 
Our  form  of  government  presupposes  that  the  ca- 
pacity of  self-government  is  commensurate  with 
the  right ;  consequently  it  is  fit  for  us  no  longer 
than  we  are  fit  for  it.  Universal  sufi'rage  in  the 
hands  of  an  unenliglTfcened  and  corrupt  people  is 
like  deadly  weapons  in  the  hands  of  a  madman. 
You  can  give  the  people  the  right  of  ruling  only 
on  supposition  that  they  will  rule  well.  But  it  is 
not  a  thing  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  a  majority 
can  do  no  wrong  or  foolish  things.  The  doings  of 
a  majority  will  never  be  a  whit  wiser  or  better  than 
the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  individuals  that  com- 
pose it.  The  great  question  then  obviously  is  : 
W.liether  the  people  at  large  are  so  enlightened  and 
virtuous,  that  the  present  will  of  a  majority,  will, 
In  the  long  run,  always  be  an  expression  of  what  is 
wisest  and  best  for  the  nation, — or  at  least,  a  truer 
expression  of  it  than  can  be  had  in  any  other  way  ? 
It  is  no  acceptable  doctrine  now-a-days  to  deny 
this.  But  taking  human  nature  as  it  is  given  in 
history  and  experience,  I  must  be  permitted  to 
doubt  whether  it  is  safe  to  assume  it.  Speaking 
abstractly,  and  without  reference  to  any  party^  I 


18         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

must  be  permitted  to  avow  the  conviction  that  the 
majority  of  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  any  country, 
which,  for  the  good  of  the  country,  ought  to  rule, 
will  always  be  most  likely  to  have  its  proper  influ- 
ence, where  the  present  will  of  a  mere  numerical 
majority  is  restrained  and  limited.  Such  is  the 
theory  of  our  constitution,  and  such  the  design  of 
many  of  its  provisions.  Bu^  the  democratic  ele- 
ment of  our  government  has  acquired  a  predomi- 
nating force  never  dreamed  of  by  its  framers.  The 
constitutional  checks  upon  the  popular  will  have 
proved  inadequate  to  preserve  the  intended  balance, 
at  least  they  have  lost  their  hold  upon  the  acqui- 
escence* of  the  people.  It  is  an  odious  thing  at  the 
present  day  for  any  one  to  speak  of  the  right  or  the 
necessity  of  checking  the  popular  will.  The  Pres- 
ident's constitutional  right  of  veto — the  independ- 
ence of  the  Senate — and  the  inviolability  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  have  all  by  turns  been  the  objects 
of  popular  hatred  and  popular  threats.  Add  to 
this  the  shape  which  the  doctrine  of  the  "  right  of 
instruction  "  is  coming  daily  more  and  more  to  as- 
sume in  the  popular  feeling — a  feeling  that  goes 
nigh  to  strip  the  members  of  the  national  legisla- 
ture of  the  character  of  trusted  legislators  for  the 
people,  whose  duty  it  is  to  act  according  to  their 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      1.9 

best  judgment  and  discretion,  for  the  good  of  the 
nation,  and  to  make  them  a  mere  formal  board  to 
register  the  determinations  that  come  up  from  the 
primary  assemblies  of  a  thousand  local  districts. 
It  is  not  necessary  here  to  draw  the  line  exactly 
between  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong  in  this 
feeling  ;  it  is  adverted  to  only  to  show  the  increas- 
ing tendency  of  the  people  to  hold  exaggerated  and 
exclusive  views  on  every  subject  involving  the  ques- 
tion of  popular  power. '^ 

*  It  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  proposition  in  absolute  terms 
on  this  point.  It  is  certainly  the  theory  of  our  constitution  that 
the  people  are  wise  enough  to  choose  men  to  be  their  legislators 
and  statesmen ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  are  wise  enough  to 
be  legislators  and  statesmen  themselves.  Nobody  is  born  a  legisla- 
tor or  statesman,  and  it  is  equally  absurd  to  suppose  the  mass  of 
the  people  can  ever  become  such.  Besides,  the  absolute  and  un- 
qualified assertion  of  the  right  of  instruction  would  involve  the 
greatest  inconveniences  and  absurdities.  For  the  right  which  is 
exerted  in  one  case,  may  be  exerted  in  every  other  case ;  and  the 
consequences  would  be  such  as  were  certainly  never  contemplated 
by  the  constitution.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  implied  in  the 
spirit  of  our  government,  that  the  deliberate  sense  of  the  commu- 
nity on  great  and  general  questions  should  be  regarded  by  their 
representatives ;  and  there  seems  no  particular  objection  to  its  be- 
ing expressed  in  the  shape  of  instructions.  This  is  probably  all 
that  moderate  and  enlightened  holders  of  the  right  of  instruction 
care  to  maintain.  But  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  tendency  of 
popular  feeling  goes  far  beyond  this,  exaggerating  it  to  an  absolute 
and  unqualified  right.  The  root  of  this  and  every  other  instance 
of  the"  undue  predominance  of  the  democratic  spirit,  is  in  radically 
false  and  absurd  notions  of  the  grounding  principles  of  govern- 
ment, and  particularly  in  the  prevalent  confusion  of  civil  with  not- 


20  IMPOKTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

Whatever  dangers  grow  out  of  this,  are  a  thou- 
sand-fold increased  by  the  unlimited  extension  of 
suffrage.  Not  contented  with  giving  the  right  to 
all  the  native  born  of  our  own  land,  without  any 
provision  to  exclude  those  whose  ignorance  unfits 
them,  or  whose  necessities  expose  them  to  corrup- 
tion,— ^we  extend  it  to  all  the  vagabonds  that  come 
to  us  from  other  lands.  The  oppressed  and  de- 
graded, the  idle  and  ignorant,  the  broken  in  fortune 
and  fame,  the  outcasts  of  Europe,  throng  to  our 
shores  by  hundreds  of  thousands  yearly — to  find 
here  not  merely  asylum  and  protection,  but  to  find 
themselves  enrolled  side  by  side  with  the  sons  of 
the  land,  and  possessed  of  equal  right  to  control 
the  destinies  of  the  nation.  Without  property  or 
other  stake  in  the  welfare  of  the  country  ;  without 
wisdom  to  exercise  their  new  rights  ;  without  suffi- 
cient time  and  opportunity  given  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  and  instruction  that  would  fit  them  for 
the  wise  exercise  of  such  rights,  and  without  a  se- 
rious conviction  of  the  duties  those  rights  impose 
— they  become  fit  dupes  for  the  party  demagogue, 
bartering  often  their  venal  vote  for  the  means  of  an 
hour's  intoxication  ! 

ural  rights.     In  fact,  the  people  of  this  country  are  politically  edu- 
cated in  nothing  but  a  false  and  overweening  sense  of  rights. 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     21 

With  the  progress  of  all  these  changes  the 
spirit  of  party  has  progressively  increased.  Our 
country  in  some  respects  offers  the  finest  arena  in 
the  world  for  the  political  demagogue.  It  was  long 
ago  apprehended  by  wise  men  as  a  possible  thing, 
that  a  knot  of  party  demagogues,  under  the  name 
of  "  friends  of  the  people/'  might  have  it  all  their 
own  way,  and  rule  and  ruin  the  people  with  the 
people's  own  consent.  It  remains  to  be  seen.  Be 
the  event  what  it  may,  certainly  the  licentiousness 
of  the  party  press  has  risen  to  a  tremendous  height. 
Nothing  is  sacred  or  secure.  The  strongest  stimu- 
lants are  constantly  administered  to  the  worst  pas- 
sions of  the  people,  and  particularly  to  the  preju- 
dices and  passions  of  that  portion  of  the  people 
who  rarely  read  but  one  side,  who  commonly  be- 
lieve all  that  is  told  them  by  the  accredited  organs 
of  their  respective  parties,  and  always  believe  what 
flatters  their  self-love.  "  It  is  the  iniquity  of  men," 
says  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  that  they  suck  in  opinion  as 
the  wild  asses  do  the  wind,  .without  distinguishing 
the  wholesome  from  the  corrupted  air,  and  then 
live  upon  it  at  a  venture.''  These  dangers  are  a 
hundred-fold  increased  from  the  mode  and  the  fre- 
quency of  filling  the  highest  office  in  the  nation 
The  country  has  no  rest  from  one  four  years'  end  to 


22  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

another,  in  preparing  for  these  so  frequently  recur- 
ring struggles.  Its  remotest  corners  are  agitated  ; 
its  quietest  nooks  are  disturbed  with  the  harsh  con- 
flict of  opinions  ; — ^while  all  over  the  land,  pesti- 
lent hordes  of  hungry  office-seekers  are  stirring  up 
the  strife,  ringing  changes  upon  popular  watch- 
words, and  exciting  the  passions  of  the  people. 
Why  is  all  this  ?  Because  the  patronage  and 
power  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  far 
greater  than  that  of  most  kings.  I  do  not  advert 
to  this,  in  order  to  quarrel  with  the  fact  :  my  only 
object  here  is  to  ask  if  it  would  not  be  far  better  if 
some  mode  of  filling  the  office  were  fallen  upon, 
that  should  leave  it  more  to  the  action  of  Providen- 
tial agency  ;  render  the  man  who  fills  it  less  de- 
pendent upon  a  party  ;  surround  him  in  a  greater 
degree  with  less  material,  and  more  moral  responsi- 
bilities ;  and  thus  leave  him  more  free  to  be  the 
head  of  the  nation,  and  not  of  a  party.* 

*  Hereditary  succession  is  not  here  intended ;  but  some  mode  of 
filling  the  executive  office  that  may  avoid  the  evils  of  frequent 
popular  elections.  In  this  country  an  astonishing  prejudice  prevails 
among  the  mass  of  the  people  on  the  whole  subject  of  government 
— as  if  freedom  of  government  were  essentially  and  exclusively 
connected  with  certain  names  and  forms.  It  needs,  however,  but 
little  knowledge  of  history  to  show  that  freedom  may  exist  under 
the  names  and  forms  of  monarchy :  while  with  all  the  names  and 
forms  of  a  republic,  a  nation  may  be  enslaved.    In  regard  to  filling 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     23 

Not  only  is  there  an  undue  predominance  of  the 
democratic  element,  subject  to  all  the  -corrupting 
influences  of  a  virulent  party  press  ;  but  can  any 
sober  mind  fail  to  see  many  proofs  and  indications 
that  the  popular  spirit  is  tending  towards  the  li- 
centious anarchy  of  mob  domination  ?  of  Liberty 
without  Law  and  Public  Order  ?  Whenever,  in 
any  country,  it  fully  comes  to  this,  it  is  no  matter 

the  executive,  the  problem — ^like  every  other  problem  in  the  gen 
eral  theory  of  government — is  to  fix  upon  the  best  mode  where  no 
mode  is  perfectly  unexceptionable,  that  is,  to  fix  upon  the  mode 
which  is  attended  with  the  fewest  evils.  Where  the  executive  is 
elective  for  life — as  was  the  case  in  Poland — the  evils  of  frequent 
elections — continual  struggle  and  agitation — are  avoided ;  but  the 
conflict  is  fiercer  and  more  dangerous  when  it  does  occur.  To 
avoid  altogether  the  evils  of  elections,  the  executive  ofiice  in  some 
constitutional  governments — as  in  England — is  made  hereditary. 
In  this  case  reliance  is  placed  upon  education  and  various  other  in- 
fluences, to  secure  the  requisite  fitness  for  office ;  yet  this  mode, 
though  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer  less  exceptionable  than  fre- 
quent popular  elections,  is  attended  with  obvious  liabilities  to  evil. 
Is  it  allowable  to  suggest  a  mode  that  might  perhaps  be  found  to 
combine  more  advantages  and  fewer  evils  for  our  country  than  any 
other?  Suppose  there  were  a  given  term  of  Senatorial  office 
longer,  say,  than  the  present ;  upon  the  expiration  of  which,  those 
who  had  served  through  it,  should  fall  into  a  grade  of  Senatores 
Emeriti — out  of  whom,  one  should  be  taken  every  four  or  six 
years,  by  lot  or  by  rotation,  or  by  some  similar  mode  of  designa- 
tion, to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States.  In  this  way,  the 
evils  of  popular  election  would  be  avoided ;  private  ambition,  and 
rival  competition  in  a  great  degree  excluded  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  individual  upon  whom  the  office  might  fall,  would  be 
likely  to  be  every  way  as  suitable  a  persen  as  can  be  secured  by  the 
present  mode. 


24  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

of  mere  speculation  that  a  people  can  inflict  upon 
themselves  a  thousand-fold  more  curses  than  the 
most  iron  despotism.  History  has  set  its  seal  to 
this  truth  forever.  That  such  will  never  be  our 
fate  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  ;  and  there  are  some 
grounds  of  good  hope.  They  are  found  in  the  de- 
gree in  which  knowledge  and  virtue  do  actually 
prevail  in  the  nation  ;  in  the  wide  extent  of  the 
country  ;  the  want  of  a  great  controlling  metropo- 
lis, and  in  the  distinction  of  State  governments 
and  State  rights.  Moreover,  there  is  reason  to 
hope  that  the  influence  of  an  ever-watchful  minor- 
ity in  opposition,  may  be  sufficient  to  counteract 
the  destructive  tendencies  of  unrestrained  democ- 
racy. Giving  all  weight,  however,  to  these  consid- 
erations, it  still  remains  beyond  a  doubt  that  the 
increasing  love  of  office,  the  spirit  of  party,  and 
the  profligacy  of  the  party  press,  furnish  ground  of 
reasonable  alarm  ;  and  every  good  man  and  lover 
of  his  country  must  desire  to  see  these  evils  dimin- 
ished. 

I  have  spoken  with  freedom  upon  this  great 
subject.  The  intention  of  this  discourse  might 
perhaps  have  been  sufficiently  attained,  by  simply 
adverting  to  the  overgrowth  of  certain  mercantile 
and  political  elements,  as  affecting  the  cause  of 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     25 

letters  and  the  welfare  of  the  country.  But  in 
following  the  train  of  my  own  thoughts  I  have 
been  led  to  speak  also  incidentally — though  I  con- 
fess more  at  large  than  I  intended — ^upon  some 
points  in  the  theory  and  working  of  our  government, 
and  to  intimate  opinions  from  which  I  am  aware 
that  many  enlightened  men  dissent.  As  to  this, 
I  can  only  say,  that  without  reference  to  any  par- 
ticular party,  and  without  any  disrespect  for  the 
opinions  of  others,  I  have  frankly  expressed  my  own 
honest  convictions.  Whether  the  particular  views 
that  have  been  intimated  concerning  the  theory  and 
working  of  our  government  are  right  or  wrong  ;  and 
whether  the  tendencies  to  evil  are,  or  are  not,  as  great 
as  have  been  supposed  ;  still  every  enlightened  man 
must  admit,  that  there  is  no  form  of  human  govern- 
ment but  is  incident  to  some  peculiar  class  of  evils  ; 
that  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  every  democratic 
government  are  such  as  have  been  spoken  of ;  and 
that  where  the  love  of  wealth  and  of  party  politics 
is  advancing,  as  with  us,  to  such  a  prodigious  over- 
growth— there,  to  secure  the  conservation  of  the 
State — the  higher  and  more  spiritual  elements  of 
national  well-being  ought  to  be  proportionably  pow- 
erful and  active.  It  is  not,  then,  in  the  idle  and 
arrogant  spirit  of  mere  fault-finding,  that  I  have 


26  IMPORTAKCE  OF  ELEVATING 

spoken  things  so  little  likely  to  be  gratifying  to  our 
self-love.  The  evils  to  which  we  are  exposed  have 
been  pointed  out,  in  order  that  we  may  more  earn- 
estly look  for  the  means  of  conservation. 

What  then  are  the  means  of  conservation  ? 
What  are  the  counter-checks  that  will  secure  the 
safety  of  an  intensely  comipercial  and  democratic 
State  ?  They  are  religion  and  letters.  It  is 
not  my  intention  here  to  speak  particularly  of  what 
religion  can  do  a«  a  conservative  power  in  a  nation. 
It  may  be  observed  however,  in  passing,  that  while 
religion  influences  the  character  of  a  people,  it  is 
itself  likewise  always  modified  by  the  people — by 
the  institutions  and  spirit  of  the  country.  In  a 
country  intensely  democratic,  where  religion  has  no 
fixed  and  settled  institutions,  but  is  left,  like  every 
thing  else,  to  the  determination  of  the  popular  will, 
may  we  not  suppose  it  will  receive  a  peculiar  cast 
and  direction  ?  Where  the  intellectual  energies 
of  the  people  are  not  at  all  meditative — turned 
within,  but  all  projected  outward,  concentrated 
upon  the  palpable  objects  of  material  utility  ;  where 
all  is  excitement  and  conflict,  agitation  and  inten- 
sity ;  will  not  religion  be  likewise  subject  to  a  cor- 
responding form  of  development  and  action  ?    Will 


i 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      27 

not  its  tone  and  the  direction  of  its  influence  be  in 
continual  fluctuation  ?  Will  there  not  be  a  restless 
craving  for  religious  novelty  and  excitement  ?  Will 
not  its  teachers  find  it  hard  to  preserve  the  inijepend- 
ence  of  their  sacred  functions  ?  Will  they  not  be-^ 
exposed  to  the  alternative  of  losing  their  influence, 
or  of  becoming  passive  weathercocks  to  obey  and 
indicate  the  ever-shifting  direction  of  the  popular 
gale  ?  Will  not  the  people  everywhere  call  out  for 
preaching  "  suited  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  "  ? — not 
meaning  by  it  preachiag  suited  to  correct  and 
amend  the  spirit  of  the  age,  but  agreeable  to  the 
taste  of  the  age  ;  for  this  mighty  "  spirit  of  the  age/' 
like  every  thing  else  belonging  to  the  supreme  peo- 
ple, never  thinks  itself  capable  of  being  in  the  wrong, 
or  needing  correction.  It  demands  an  applauding 
echo,  not  a  rebuke.  Is  there  no  danger  that  this 
'^  spirit  of  the  times,"  so  enlightened  in  its  own 
esteem,  and  so  wanting  in  reverence  for  every  thing 
but  itself,  instead  of  submitting  to  be  met,  checked, 
and  corrected,  by  the  whole,  undivided,  old-fashioned 
gospel,  will  lay  sacrilegious  hands  upon  it,  and — 
tearing  a  portion  of  its  more  external  truths  and 
applications  live  asunder  from  the  living  whole  and 
from  their  inward  and  spiritual  grounds — will  mould 
and  narrow  and  concentrate  the  whole  of  religion 


28  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

upon  an  everchanging  succession  of  objects  of  exter- 
nal and  material  reform — hurrying  forever  onward 
in  a  restless  career  of  fierce  fanaticism  ? 

Before  you  answer  these  questions,  look  to  that 
part  of  the  country  from  whence  have  sprung  and 
spread  some  of  the  most  remarkable  religious  devel- 
opments of  the  age  ;  and  where  too,  it  is  to  be  noted, 
have  been  shown  the  most  remarkable  spectacles  the 
world  has  ever  seen  of  intense  activity  on  the  grand- 
est scale^  exerted  for  the  physical  ends  of  life — root- 
ing out  forests,  building  up  city  after  city,  carrying 
forth  roads  and  canals,  and  growing  rich,  as  by  the 
magic  ministry  of  Aladdin's  lamp. 

In  a  country  like  ours  then,  where  the  demo- 
cratic and  commercial  elements  are  so  intense,  it 
cannot  be  expected  that  religion  will  exert  an  ade- 
quate conservative  influence  ;  unless  the  intellectual 
tone  of  the  people  can  he  exalted.  It  is  the  office 
of  Keligion  to  diminish,  by  her  views  of  eternal 
things,  a  too  intense  and  absorbing  devotion  to  the 
gross  and  material  objects  of  life ;  but  she  wiU 
battle  it  unequally,  unless  she  is  aided  by  causes 
that  shall  excite  and  cherish  a  taste  and  respect  for 
the  higher  and  more  intellectual  objects  and  enjoy- 
ments of  the  present  life. 

Let  us  then  turn  to  letters,  as  the  other  conser- 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     29 

vative  element  of  the  state — and  the  necessary  com- 
plement of  the  former.  In  this  aspect  of  our  coun- 
try, we  find;  in  some  parts,  public  schools,  a  press 
teeming  with  popular  works,  and  a  body  of  teachers 
and  writers  actively  engaged  in  communicating  and 
diffusing  existing  knowledge.  I  will  not  stop  to 
dwell  at  length  upon  defects  in  all  this.  It  might 
be  shown  how  the  system  of  education,  established 
among  us,  tends,  in  some  important  respects,  not 
so  much  to  quicken  intellectual  power  and  to  form 
decided  intellectual  tastes,  as  to  furnish  the  modi- 
cum of  knowledge  necessary  to  enable  our  youth  to 
rush  upon  the  arena  of  life  and  play  their  part  in 
the  great  struggle  for  wealth  or  office.  It  might 
be  shown  how  the  continual  multiplication  of  works 
like  most  of  our  popular  productions  tends  to  create 
a  vague  and  superficial  knowledge,  which  serves 
rather  as  a  substitute  for  thinking  than  to  invigorate 
the  powers  of  thought ;  and  how  the  mind  even  of 
the  commonest  reader  gets  more  good  from  grap- 
pling with  one  master-mind,  and  by  patient, 
strenuous  self-exertion,  fathoming  the  depth  of  one 
master-work,  than  by  skimming  forty  volumes  of 
"  Familiar  Elements,'"  and  similar  fourth-rate  pro- 
ductions  that  are  continually  coming  forth.*      I 

* "  What  the  youth  of  a  nation  needs,"  says  Cousin,  "  are 


30  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

miglit  point  out  some  indications  of  a  morbid  taste 
in  tlie  present  reading  public,  which  require  a  higher 
tone  of  literature  to  correct.  But  let  whatever 
there  is  of  letters  among  us  be  accepted  as  good  ; 
and  surely  it  is  very  good  in  comparison  with  hav- 
ing nothing  of  the  kind,  or  even — some  exceptions 
being  made — ^with  having  less  of  it;  for  it  tends  to 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge — a  thing  essential  to  the 
welfare  of  the  country,  so  it  be  sound  and  wholesome 
knowledge  ;  still  it  is  obvious  to  remark  that  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  is  not  its  advancement. 
Carrying  the  streams  all  over  the  land  is  not  keep- 
ing the  fountains  fresh  and  full.  The  teachers — 
those  engaged  in  simplifying  and  communicating 
existing  knowledge — can  have  but  little  time  for 
increasing  its  amount.  They  can  have  but  little 
time,  even  if  they  have  the  intellectual  power,  to 
explore  the  fountain  heads,  to  enlarge  them,  to  open 
new  and  fresh  springs.  Yet  this  is  needed  ;  other- 
wise the  streams  are  likely  to  get  dry  and  stale. 

thorough  and  profound  works,  such  even  as  are  something  abstruse 
and  difficult ;  in  order  that  they  may  get  the  habit  of  encountering 
and  overcoming  difficulties,  and  serve  as  it  were  an  apprenticeship  to 
fit  them  for  life  and  its  labor.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to  deal  out  to 
them  only  slight  general  notions  in  such  a  form  that  a  child  of 
five  years  old  may  learn  to  recite  the  whole  book  in  a  day  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  imagine  it  knows  something  of  human  na- 
ture and  the  world.  Not  so  should  it  be.  Strong  minds  arc  made 
by  strong  studies,"  etc.     Cours  de  la  Phil.  Y.  I.  Lee.  11. 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      31 

We  need  then  an  order  of  men — of  lofty  intellec- 
tual endowment,  of  original  creative  power,  exclu- 
sively devoted  to  the  highest  departments  of  truth, 
beauty,  and  letters;  an  intellectual  High  Priesthood, 
standing  within  the  inner  veil  of  the  Temple  of 
Truth,  reverently  watching  before  the  Holy  of 
Holies  for  its  divine  revelations,  and  giving  them 
out  to  the  lower  ministers  at  the  altar  ; — thus 
teaching  the  teachers,  enlarging  their  intellectual 
treasures,  exalting  their  intellectual  spirit,  and 
through  them  instructing  and  elevating  the  whole 
body  of  the  people.  This  lofty  style  of  letters,  as 
we  have  said,  is  good  in  itself.  It  is  good  as  a 
component  part  of  the  common  weal.  It  is  good 
too — it  is  indispensably  necessary — as  a  counter- 
acting power  to  the  predominant  evils  that  have 
been  displayed. 

But  how  shall  a  learned  order  be  created  ?  The 
very  state  of  things  that  renders  it  most  needful, 
not  only  fails  to  create  it,  but  is  adverse  to  it. 
Politics  and  business,  public  life  and  commercial 
enterprise,  absorb  the  greatest  portion  of  the  best 
energies  of  the  nation.  The  public  will  never  create 
it.  The  public  will  pay  for  a  cheap  and  inferior 
style  of  letters.     The  public  will  pay  only  for  what 


32  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

it  compreliends  the  value  of ;  it  cannot  comprehend 
the  value  of  a  Plato,  a  Bacon,  a  Michael  Angelo,  a 
Newton,  a  La  Place  ;  it  will  not  support  them.  It 
will  not  even  respect  and  honor  them  while  alive, 
unless  it  sees  them  surrounded  with  other  titles  to 
their  reverence  than  those  which  come  from  the  na- 
ture and  value  of  their  labors — unless  it  sees  them 
honored  by  the  State.  Centuries  after  they  are 
dead,  from  the  tardy  prevalence  of  right  opinion  in 
the  higher  quarters,  the  multitude  may  come  to 
have  a  vague  impression  that  they  are  great  names, 
not  to  be  mentioned  without  respect. 

It  is  a  sad  reflection,  how  comparatively  solitary 
and  uncheered  by  sympathy  and  respect,  even  in 
the  best  condition  of  society,  is  the  path  of  a  truly 
great  and  original  mind — especially  when  devoted 
to  the  more  profound  and  spiritual  investigations  of 
truth.  As  Coleridge  says  of  some  such  one,  they 
stride  so  far  ahead  of  their  age  that  they  are  dwarfed 
by  the  distance.  It  is  perhaps  one  of  the  penalties 
of  greatness — one  of  the  abatements,  in  the  equal 
orderings  of  Providence,  from  the  enviableness  of 
such  high  gifts.  The  fate  of  Bacon  is  an  impressive 
case  in  point.  The  name  of  Bacon  is  now  a  word 
of  reverence  in  the  mouths  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
the  multitude,  who  have  never  indeed  read  a  line  of 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     33 

Hs  philosopMcal  works,  and  know  nothing  of  their 
contents,  unless  perhaps  they  have  skimmed  the 
outlines  of  his  great  work  in  the  "  Library  of  Use- 
ful Knowledge,"  or  gleaned  some  crude  notions 
from  more  casual  sources.  Few  are  aware,  however, 
that  in  his  own  days,  and  among  his  own  countrymen, 
his  philosophical  labors  were  not  only  not  under- 
stood and  esteemed,  but  depreciated  and  ridiculed 
— and  that  not  merely  by  the  courtiers  and  men 
of  the  world,  but  by  the  men  of  genius  who  ought 
to  have  comprehended  the  new  sources  opened  to 
them.  The  shallow  witticism  of  the  "  pedant  king  " 
on  his  great  work — ''  that  like  the  peace  of  God  it 
passed  all  understanding  " — was  but  the  key-note 
of  the  whole  symphony  of  the  times.  Well  was  it 
for  Bacon  that  he  could  sustain  his  mighty  spirit 
by  keeping  the  "  times  succeeding  "  ever  before  his 
mind  ;  and  in  his  last  legacy  "  leave  his  name  and 
his  memory  to  foreign  nations  and  to  his  own  coun- 
trymen after  some  time  he  passed  over."'''  This  is 
not  a  solitary  instance.  The  history  of  literature 
is  full  of  similar  cases  ;  but  we  cannot  stop  to  sig- 
nalize them.  A  most  eminent  instance,  in  our  own 
age,  might  be  pointed  out,  in  the  "  myriad-minded  " 

*  See  D'Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature,  2d  Series., 
2* 


34  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

Coleridge — a  man  of  most  surpassing  intellectual 
greatness,  wonderful  alike  for  every  kind  of  learn- 
ing and  for  every  Idnd  of  creative  power.  He  was 
indeed  valued  and  revered  by  a  few — ^the  elect 
spirits  of  the  age — and  among  tliem  some  of  the 
highest  and  brightest  names  of  our  times,  whose 
verdict  is  prophecy,  whose  apjplause  is  fame  ;  but  by 
the  great  body  of  his  cotemporaries  he  lived  neg- 
lected and  depreciated.  But  neither  have  I  time, 
nor  dare  I  attempt,  to  make  his  fitting  eulogy.  Suc- 
ceeding TIMES  will  do  him  justice,  and  vindicate  his 
titles  to  the  reverential  homage  of  his  country  and 
mankind. 

In  a  country  where  commercial  enterprise  and 
public  life  absorbs  such  a  disproportionate  share  of 
the  strongest  energies  of  mind,  it  is  rare  to  find  the 
men  of  the  world,  even  the  best  of  them,  adequate- 
ly appreciating  the  value,  and  respecting  the  labors 
of  men  of  genius.  ' '  These  men  of  strong  minds, 
but  limited  capacities,''  as  D'Israeli  says,  are  rather 
inclined  "  to  hold  in  contempt  all  studies  alien  to 
their  own  habits."'  This,  which  has  ever  been  to  a 
great  extent  the  tendency,  even  in  the  most  favor- 
able condition  of  things,  is,  from  the  peculiar  state 
of  our  country,  eminently  the  tendency  with  us. 
Where  shall  we  look  in  our  political  and  commercial 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OP  THE  NATION.     35 

world  at  the  present  day,  for  such  men  as  Cicero, 
uniting  literary  and  philosophical  tastes  and  labors 
with  public  affairs  ;  or  the  magnificent  Lorenzo  de 
Medici,  distinguished  at  once  as  poet,  and  lover 
and  cultivator  of  philosophy  and  art,  as  well  as  the 
great  merchant  and  head  of  the  State — gathering 
around  him  the  choicest  literary  spirits  of  the  age  ; 
loving  them  ;  cheering  and  quickening  their  zeal  by 
public  honors  and  rewards  ;  and  in  his  intervals 
of  leisure  from  affairs,  living  with  them  in  genial 
communication  on  the  highest  themes  of  truth  and 
beauty  : 

^Non  de  villis,  domibusve  alienis, 

Nee,  male,  nee  ne,  lepus  saltet.     Sed  quod  magis  ad  nos 
Pertinet,  et  neseire  malum  est : 


-Utrumne 


Divitiis  homines,  an  sint  virtute  beati  ? 
Et  quo  sit  natura  boni ;  summum  que  ejus. 

Horace  Sat.  L.  II.  6,  11. 


Neither  by  the  pubhc  then,  nor  by  individuals, 
in  the  present  state  of  things,  can  we  expect  that  a 
body  of  high  and  original  cultivators  of  truth  and 
letters,  will  be  adequately  sustained  or  respected. 

But  it  may  be  thought  that  men  of  genius 
should  be  sustained  by  the  sentiment  of  duty,  and 


36  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

the  •  consciousness  of  their  high  vocation  ; — ^by  a 
calm  and  lofty  confidence  in  the  verdict  of  "  succeed- 
ing times  ; "  and,  above  all,  by  the  ever  fresh  im- 
pulse of  that  love  of  truth  and  letters /or  their  own 
sake,  without  which  no  external  motives  will  avail 
to  call  forth  great  and  noble  works.  It  is  indeed 
true  that  no  one  is  worthy  the  name  of  philosopher, 
poet,  or  artist,  who  regards  the  pursuit  of  truth  and 
beauty,  as  mere  means  to  earthly  and  private  ends. 
Such  a  feeling  would  of  itself  sufficiently  betray 
that  the  genial  power  of  high  production — the  true 
mens  divinior — had  never  stirred  within  them.  It 
is  the  remark  of  Fuseli,  that  no  great  and  genuine 
work  of  art  was  ever  produced  where  the  artist  did 
not  love  his  art  for  its  own  sake  ;  and  the  remark 
applies  to  every  branch  of  science  and  letters.*  All 
the  master-works  of  the  mind  must  be  the  genial 

*  I  cannot  resist  the  inclination  to  mention  the  circumstances  in 
which  I  first  saw  this  remark  of  Fuseli.  It  was  in  the  studio  of  my 
friend  Allston,  to  which  I  had  been  invited — a  privilege  rarely 
extended  to  any  one — to  see  a  picture  he  had  just  finished.  The 
sentence  from  Fuseli  was  written  in  pencil  on  the  door  of  a  cabinet, 
and  beneath  it  was  another  exquisite  thought  by  Allston  himself: 
"He  who  loves  his  art  for  its  own  sake,  will  be  delighted  with  excel- 
lence wherever  he  sees  it,  as  well  in  the  work  of  another  as  in 
his  own.  This  is  the  test  of  true  love."  This  is  beautiful,  and 
beautifully  expressed, — and  what  is  pleasanter  still,  it  is  just  an  ex- 
pression of  the  true  disposition  of  that  most  amiable  man  and  orna- 
ment of  our  country's  art. 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      37 

production  of  those  who  find  their  labors  their  own 
"  exceeding  great  reward."  External  moti^^es  can 
never  bestow  inward  power.  True  love  alone  quick- 
ens creative  energy.  He  who  can  be  drawn  to  la- 
bor in  the  cause  of  truth  and  letters  only  by  the 
earthly  rewards  of  money  and  honor,  will  never  do 
any  thing  worthy  of  reward. 

All  this,  however,  by  no  means  proves  that  such 
rewards  are  not  needed,  in  order  to  give  free  and 
unrestrained  scope  to  the  action  of  more  genial  im- 
pulses. The  man  of  genius  must  have  a  livelihood. 
However  sincere  his  love  of  the  true  and  beautifol 
and  good  in  science,  art  and  letters,  for  their  own 
sake  ;  however  glorious  his  energies  ;  however  strong 
the  inward  impulse  to  high  and  noble  production  ; 
he  may  be  pressed  down  by  the  force  of  external 
circumstances.  The  necessity  of  providing  for  the 
wants  of  to-morrow  by  the  cares  of  to-day,  may  for- 
bid his  giving  himself  up  to  the  objects  of  his  love. 
The  votary  of  high  truth  and  letters  should  be  so 
provided  for,  that  that  he  may  abide  in  the  "  quiet 
and  still  air  of  his  delightful  studies,"  and  not  be 
dragged  forth  to  struggle  in  the  work-house  of  the 
world  for  his  daily  bread.  Then  as  to  the  respect- 
ful appreciation  of  his  labors  by  his  fellow-men. 
The  man  of  genius  is  a  man  ;  and  therefore  feels 


38  IMPOETANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

the  want  of  liuman  sympatliy.  He  may  glow  with 
a  pure  and  fervent  love  of  truth  and  beauty  ;  he 
may  have  a  calm  and  self-sustained  conviction  that 
he  is  not  living  in  vain,  nor  for  himself  alone,  but 
is  working  in  a  high  vocation  to  which  he  is  called 
of  Grod  ;  he  may  have  a  serene  and  lofty  confidence 
in  the  sentence  of  succeeding  times  ; — yet  he  will 
often  feel  a  discouraging  sense  of  loneliness,  if  he 
sees  himself  the  object  of  disregard  or  depreciation 
among  his  fellow-men  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  he 
will  be  cheered  and  quickened  by  knowing  that  the 
respectful  thoughts  and  kind  feelings  of  his  contem- 
poraries are  with  him  in  his  labors.  Thus  we  see 
that  genius  may  be  repressed,  and  rendered  fruit- 
less to  the  world,  if  it  is  left  a  prey  to  the  cares  of 
life,  or  the  sense  of  disregard.  Here  then  lies  the 
value  of  State  endowments — places  of  dignified 
labor  and  ample  provision  for  a  body  of  men  de- 
voted to  the  highest  interests  of  science  and  letters. 
The  State  is  the  proper  power  to  form  and  sus- 
tain such  an  order  of  men.  The  State  is  the  power 
that  can  most  adequately  cherish  the  cause  of  lofty 
science  and  learning.  It  does  this,  not  by  cre- 
ating genius,  not  by  communicating  a  love  of 
truth  and  letters  for  their  own  sake  ;  but  by  mak- 
ing such  provision  that  these  impulses  may  have 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE. NATION.     39 

free  scope.  Government  can  supply  a  place  for  a 
learned  order  to  work  in  ;  and  can  put  honor  on 
their  work  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude.  The  mul- 
titude honors  what  it  sees  honored  by  the  State. 
In  this  country,  above  all  others  on  the  globe,  men 
of  science  and  letters  have  no  place,  no  position, 
in  the  social  system.  The  respect  paid  to  wealth 
and  public  office  engrosses  all  the  respect  that  in 
other  countries  is  awarded  to  high  letters.  The 
multitude  in  this  country,  so  far  from  favoring  and 
honoring  high  learning  and  science,  is  rather  prone 
to  suspect  and  dislike  it.  It  feareth  that  genius 
savoreth  of  aristocracy  !  Besides,  the  multitude 
calleth  itself  a  practical  man.  It  asketh  :  what  is 
the  use  ?  It  seeth  no  use  but  in  that  which  leads 
to  money,  or  to  the  material  ends  of  life.  It  hath 
no  opinion  of  having  dreamers  and  drones  in  society. 
It  believeth  indeed  in  rail-roads ;  it  thinketh  well 
of  steam  ;  and  owneth  that  the  new  art  of  bleach- 
ing by  chlorine  is  a  prodigious  improvement ; — but 
it  laughs  at  the  profound  researches  into  the  laws 
of  nature,  out  of  which  those  very  inventions  grew  ; 
and  with  still  greater  scorn  it  laughs  at  the  votaries 
of  the  more  spiritual  forms  of  truth  and  beauty, 
which  have  no  application  to  the  palpable  uses  of 
life.     Then,  again,  the  influence  of  our  reading  pub- 


40         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

lie  is  not  favorable  to  liigli  letters.  It  demands,  it 
pays  for,  and  respects,  almost  exclusively,  a  lower 
style  of  production  ;  and  hence  a  natural  influence 
to  discourage  higher  labors.  As  old  Spenser  sang, 
two  hundred  years  ago  : 

If  that  any  buds  of  poesy 

Yet  of  the  old  stock,  'gin  shoot  again, 

'Tis  or  self-lost  the  worlding's  meed  to  gain, 

And  with  the  rest  to  breathe  its  ribauldry, — 

Or,  as  it  sprung,  it  wither  must  again  ; 

Tom  Piper  makes  them  better  melody  ! 

The  State  then  ought  to  cherish  high  science 
and  letters  by  endowments,  for  two  reasons  :  first, 
in  order  to  supply  to  a  superior  order  of  men  such 
a  competent  provision  as  wiU  leave  them  free  to  de- 
vote their  powers  exclusively  to  lofty  study  and 
production  ;  secondly,  in  order  to  develop  in  the 
people  a  proper  feeling  of  respect  for  the  importance 
of  such  labors,  by  the  honor  it  puts  upon  them.* 
Something  of  this  is  done  in  other  countries.  A 
learned  order  is,  to  some  extent,  recognized  and 
sustained  as  one  of  the  integral  elements  of  the  com- 
monwealth. In  the  theory,  at  least,  of  the  British 
constitution — which,  taken  all  in  all,  is  wonderfully 

*  This  is  illustrated  at  considerable  length,  and  set  in  various 
lights,  in  Bulwer's  "  England  and  the  English." 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     41 

adapted  to  human  nature  as  it  is,  and  to  the  wants 
of  the  social  condition  ;  the  working  of  whose  ma- 
chinery may,  in  the  progress  of  time  and  change, 
have  become  disordered,  and  need  rectifying,  but 
whose  dissolution  or  organic  change  should  be 
dreaded — in  the  theory  of  this  constitution,  the  State 
charges  itself  with  the  duty  of  providing  for  the 
good  of  the  people  what  the  people  will  never  pro- 
vide for  themselves.  Hence  the  Cathedral,  Univer- 
sity, and  other  Endowments  for  learning,  science 
and  art — places  of  high  honor  and  trust — designed, 
in  the  ideal  of  them,  to  be  filled  by  the  best  minds 
of  the  land ;  where,  with  a  modest  but  dignified 
provision  for  life  and  its  wants,  surrounded  with  rich 
and  ample  libraries,  it  becomes  their  duty  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  highest  departments  of  truth  and 
letters  ;  working  not  with  immediate  reference  to 
the  bulk  of  the  people,  but  for  the  teachers  of  the 
people — guarding  the  fountain  heads  of  learning, 
and  opening  new  springs  ;  promoting  thus  the  good 
of  all — honored  and  respected  by  all,  not  because 
all  can  fally  comprehend  the  meaning  and  value  of 
their  pursuits,  but  because  all  see  them  honored  by 
the  State. 

Would  that  we  could  hope  for  some  support  of 
a  like  kind  for  the  intellectual  interests  of  our  coun- 


42  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

try.  But  what  has  government  ever  done  to  cherish 
these  interests  ?  Next  to  nothing  in  comparison 
with  their  importance  and  its  own  means.  It  has 
occasionally  ordered  a  picture  or  a  statue ;  it  has 
subscribed  for  a  few  books.  Oh,  if  a  portion  of 
those  superfluous  millions,  whose  distribution  has 
created  so  keen  an  excitement,  could  have  been  de- 
voted to  founding  and  cherishing  a  great  and  noble 
institution  for  the  cultivation  of  lofty  science  and 
letters,  what  occasion  of  joy  to  every  lover  of  the 
cause,  and  to  every  enlightened  lover  of  our  coun- 
try !  Little,  however,  can  at  present  be  expected 
from  government.  The  action  of  our  government 
is  but  the  reflection  of  the  popular  will ;  it  has  but 
little  power  to  form  and  direct  the  public  mind. 
It  will  be  yet  a  long  time  before  the  country  at 
large  is  adequately  awake  to  the  importance  even 
of  primary  education.  It  is  pleasant  to  perceive  a 
growing  sense  of  this  ;  but  the  importance  of  a  gen- 
erous provision  for  the  cultivation  of  the  higher  de- 
partments of  science  and  letters  is  scarcely  at  all 
felt.  So  far,  indeed,  is  the  mutual  connection  and 
harmony  of  the  two  from  being  discerned,  that  there 
is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  popular 
education — even  among  those  who  ought  to  know 
better — to  dislike  and  oppose  the  claims  of  high 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      43 

science  and  letters.  A  great  change  must  be 
wrought  in  public  feeling,  before  the  ample  re- 
sources of  the  country  will  be  applied  to  this  great 
object. 

What  then  remains  ?  Shall  the  lovers  of  good 
letters  despair  of  the  cause  ?  Oh  no  !  Let  them 
stir  themselves  up  to  a  loftier  zeal  in  proportion  to 
the  adverse  influences  that  press  upon  them.  Let 
them  mutually  quicken  in  each  other  those  genial 
impulses  which  the  chill  cold  atmosphere  of  the 
country  so  tends  to  repress.  Let  them  brighten 
the  golden  chain  that  unites  them.  Let  a  livelier 
sympathy  pervade  and  animate  the  whole  brother- 
hood of  those  who  love  and  honor  the  cause  of  truth, 
of  beautiful  art,  and  of  good  letters.  Let  them  com- 
bine their  exertions,  and  direct  them  to  supplying 
those  fostering  influences  which  the  Public  and  the 
State  withhold. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  not  a 
more  intimate  connection  among  our  men  of  letters  ; 
that  they  meet  no  more  frequently  as  a  class — have 
no  more  free  communication — and  make  themselves 
no  more  felt  as  a  distinct  body  and  a  positive  ele- 
ment in  the  social  system.  Perhaps  in  part  it  is 
owing  to  the  want  of  some  such  point  of  common 
attraction  as  the  capitals  of  Europe  supply  ;  but 


44         IMPOKTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

more  to  the  fact  that  those  among  us  who  are  in 
any  degree  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  letters,  give 
to  its  pursuits  only  the  intervals  of  leisure  snatched 
from  the  duties  and  cares  of  other  professions,  upon 
which  they  are  dependent  not  only  for  subsistence, 
but  for  their  social  position  and  conseq[uence.  They 
are  thus  scattered  abroad  over  the  land — isolated, 
amidst  the  ungenial  influences  that  surround  them, 
with  but  little  leisure  or  opportunity  to  indulge  in 
the  sympathies  of  brotherly  communion,  and  to  com- 
bine and  strengthen  their  influence  for  the  promotion 
of  high  letters. 

Would,  however,  that  the  love  of  these  great 
interests,  and  a  sense  of  their  value  to  the  country, 
might  lead  to  more  vigorous  and  combined  exertions 
to  promote  them.  If  I  might  suggest,  in  broken 
hints,  the  outline  of  a  scheme  that  I  should  desire 
to  see  embodied — I  would  say :  Let  a  great  associa- 
tion be  formed,  embracing  all  who  cultivate,  and  all 
who  appreciate  the  value  of  good  learning,  high 
science,  and  noble  art.  The  objects  of  such  a  union 
should  be  by  mutual  sympathy,  to  quicken  in  each 
otherthe  love  of  these  things  and  to  excite  to  genial 
production  ;  to  supply,  as  far  as  possible,  the  requi- 
site material  conditions — the  means  and  appliances 
— ^that  may  give  free  scope  to  the  impulses  of  genius; 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     45 

and  to  act  upon  the  intellectual  spirit  of  the  nation 
' — exalting  its  tone,  developing  the  power  and  excit- 
ing the  disposition  to  appreciate  and  cherish  the 
productions  of  genius.  In  imitation  of  the  German 
Society  of  Naturalists,  let  there  be  an  annual  Con- 
gress of  the  disciples  of  good  letters,  held  in  different 
places  on  successive  years  ;  and  let  not  the  influence 
of  these  meetings  die  away  with  the  speeches  that 
are  made.  Let  suggestions  concerning  all  the  most 
important  desiderata  in  the  highest  departments 
of  Philosophy,  Art,  and  Literature,  be  received, 
carefully  weighed  by  appropriate  committees,  and 
discussed  in  the  most  catholic  spirit.  Let  prizes  be 
proposed,  and  works  of  pre-eminent  merit  be 
crowned.  But  above  all,  let  the  most  strenuous 
and  unwearied  exertions  be  directed  to  securing 
those  material  provisions  which  are  requisite  to 
call  a  portion  of  the  highest  talent  and  genius  of 
the  country  into  the  field  of  science  and  literature. 
Here  would  be  included  the  foundation  of  libraries, 
containing  the  most  perfect  apparatus  for  the 
thorough  cultivation  of  every  department  of  letters, 
and  complete  collections  in  nature  and  art ; — and 
last,  but  most  essential,  endownments  for  the  dig- 
nified and  honorable  support  of  genius — where,  free 
from  life's  cares,  it  may  follow  the  impulses  of  its 


46         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

nature.  Here  let  all  those  whom  God  hath  formed 
for  great  poets,  great  artists,  and  great  philosophers, 
find  every  condition  and  every  influence  to  quicken, 
unfold,  and  perfect  in  themselves  the  rare  and 
excellent  gifts  of  God.  Here  "  in  the  quiet  and 
still  air  of  delightful  studies,''  let  the  tenure  and 
obligations  of  their  position  and  the  sense  of  duty 
unite  with  the  inward  promptings  of  their  nature, 
leading  them  to  work,  each  in  his  high  vocation,  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  honor  and  instruction  of 
their  country  and  mankind. 

If  this  be  but  an  Idea  that  can  never  be 
realized,  surely  it  is  an  idea  beautiful  to  the  imag- 
ination, and  attractive  to  the  wishes  of  every  lover 
of  truth  and  letters.  Even  if  it  cannot  be  fully 
realized,  something  may  be  done.  A  beginning 
may  be  made  by  the  union  and  combined  influence 
of  those  who  have  these  interests  at  heart,  and  they 
may  at  length  so  act  upon  the  intellectual  spirit  of 
the  country  as  to  secure  the  fostering  influence  of 
the  State.  At  all  events,  the  duty  of  uniting  in 
the  promotion  of  this  great  end,  rests  upon  all  who 
love  the  cause  of  truth  and  human  progress.  It 
rests  upon  all  whom  history  and  reflection  have 
taught  to  dread  for  our  country  the  debasing  and 
deadly  tendencies  of  a  too  intense   and  absorbing 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     47 

devotion  to  the  mere  physical  interests  of  life.  It 
rests  upon  all  who  would  elevate  the  intellectual 
tone  of  the  nation — develop  its  true  humanity — 
and  raise  it  to  the  true  freedom  of  virtuous  energy. 
It  rests  upon  all  who  would  secure  to  our  heloved 
country  the  permanent  possession  of  its  true  dignity 
and  proper  well-being.  There  is  no  alternative. 
We  must  be  rich  and  great.  We  cannot — like  the 
mountain  dwellers  of  Switzerland  and  the  Alps,  or 
the  poor  inhabitants  of  Iceland — find  in  our  pov- 
erty, and  in  the  influences  of  rehgion,  those  safe- 
guards of  our  virtue  and  our  welfare,  which  render 
the  conservative  influence  of  high  intellectual  cul- 
ture comparatively  unimportant.  We  must  be  rich 
and  great ;  and  our  riches  and  greatness  wiU  inevi- 
tably prove  our  ruin — spite  of  all  that  religion  will 
effect — unless  the  intellectual  spirit  of  the  nation 
be  elevated  by  the  pervading  influence  of  a  spiritual 
Philosophy,  a  pure  Literature  and  a  noble  Art. 


48  IMPOKTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 


KEMARKS  ON  SOME    OBJECTIONS   TO  THE 
FOREGOING  VIEWS. 


[Neakly  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  passed 
away  since  tlie  foregoing  address  was  delivered.  In 
reading  it  over  now,  in  1860,  I  think  it  right  to 
say  that  while  I  still  regard  the  general  principles 
and  leading  views  of  the  discourse  as  just  and  im- 
portant, I  find  some  things  expressed  in  somewhat 
stronger  and  less  qualified  terms  than  I  should  now 
use.  But,  particularly,  I  hold  it  due  to  truth 
and  to  my  own  convictions  to  say — and  I  am  glad 
to  have  the  opportunity  to  say — that  there  has 
been,  I  think,  during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  a 
very  considerable  improvement  in  the  intellectual 
tone  of  the  nation  ;  that  if  wealth  and  public  of- 
fice are  still  inordinately  worshipped  and  pursued, 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     49 

yet  not  only  the  number  of  those  who  hold  higher 
objects  in  higher  esteem  is  greatly  increasedj  but 
among  the  people  at  large  there  is  much  more  a 
disposition  to  honor  and  respect  high  science  and 
letters.  In  1836  New  York  had  an  Astor  House  ; 
in  1860  it  has,  and  for  a  number  of  years  has  had, 
an  Irving  House,  a  Prescott  House,  an  Ever- 
ett House,  a  Bancroft  House,  and,  for  aught  I 
know,  a  Bryant  House,  too  ;  and  the  like  thing 
is  true  in  our  other  great  towns. 

The  views  advanced  in  my  discourse  met  with 
some  objections  at  the  time.  In  particular  they 
were  strongly  assailed — ^not  directly  in  form,  but 
with  unmistakable  directness  in  purport  and  inten- 
tion, and  not  over  respectfully  in  terms — by  the 
gentleman  who  followed  me  the  next  year,  in  ad- 
dressing the  same  literary  societies.*  I  subjoin  ex- 
tracts from  some  remarks  made  in  reply  in  the 
New  York  Keview  for  April,  1838,  a  journal  I 
had  established,  and  which  was  at  that  time  under 
my  editorial  charge.  I  do  it  not  out  of  any  per- 
sonal feeling — if  I  had  any  at  that  time    (and  I 

*  An  address  delivered  before  the  Literary  Societies  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont,  August  2,  1837.  By  George  G.  Ingersoll. 
Burlington. 

3 


50  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

do  not  know  that  I  had)  it  is  long  ago  gone — ^but 
because  they  contain  what  seems  to  me  a  substan- 
tial answer  to  the  objections  most  likely  to  be  made 
against  the  leading  views  of  my  discourse,  and  par- 
ticularly against  endowments  for  the  promotion  of 
science  and  learning,  letters  and  art,  and  may  serve 
to  fortify  some  of  the  positions  there  taken,  which 
I  hold  to  be  sound  and  good.] 

Instead  of  telling  his  audience  wholesome  truths, 
and  inciting  them  to  higher  exertions  in  the  cause 
of  good  letters  than  those  which  we  have,  in  this 
country,  been  too  contented  with — the  author  of 
this  address  has  chosen  the  easier  task  of  adminis- 
tering to  a  self-satisfied  vanity  already  inflated  to 
an  unhealthy  degree.  Nay,  more  ;  he  seems  to  have 
had  in  his  eye,  some  brother-orator  who  preceded 
him  on  a  like  occasion  ;  and  who,  instead  of  laying 
on  the  altar  the  usual  offering  of  fulsome  eulogy, 
was  wicked  enough  to  intimate  that  some  things 
might  be  better  in  this  country  than  they  are.  He 
therefore  comes  forward  to  pour  the  precious  balm 
of  unction  into  the  rankling  wounds,  to  smooth  down 
the  ruflled  plumage  of  self-love. 

It  seems  to  have  been  an  opinion  expressed  by 
somebody,  that  there  is  in  this  country  an  excessive 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     51 

love  of  gain.  The  author  of  this  address  thinks  this 
is  not  the  fact  ;  for  the  same  thing,  he  says,  is  true 
of  England,  of  Europe,  of  the  world  !  Indeed,  he 
rather  inclines  to  the  opinion  that  it  is  a  tendency 
of  human  nature !  at  least  he  quotes  classical 
authority  for  the  opinion  :  Hominum  sunt  ista,  non 
temporum;  nulla  cetas  vacavit  a  culpa  ! 

On  the  whole,  however,  after  some  dubitation 
on  the  matter,  he  thinks  it  is  but  fair  to  admit  that 
the  spirit  of  money-getting  is  very  strong — too 
strong,  indeed  ;  yet  it  would  be  a  pity  if  it  were 
less  so.  This  part  of  his  subject,  in  truth,  seems 
to  have  slightly  perplexed  the  orator  ;  though  the 
dexterity  with  which  he  has  contrived  to  make  one 
sentence  neutralize  the  other,  is  only  equalled  by 
that  of  the  renowned  editor  of  the  Little  Pedlington 
Observer. 

Of  one  thing,  nevertheless,  the  orator  is  positive, 
and  that  is,  that  the  love  of  money — which  is  not 
excessive,  and  is  yet  lamentably  too  strong,  though 
it  would  be  a  pity  if  there  were  less  of  it — is  by  no 
means  the  exclusive  passion  of  the  people  of  this 
country.  In  proof  of  this,  he  triumphantly  appeals 
to  the  fact,  that  on  the  "  annual  return "  of  the 
commencement  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  "  the 
office,  the  counting-room,  the  shop,  the  farm,  the 


52  IMPOETANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

home,  are  all  forsaken  ;  and  all  ages,  sexes,  and 
conditions,  throng  to  its  observance  ! "  He  inti- 
mates, also,  that  the  like  is  true  at  other  colleges. 
This  conclusively  shows  not  only  that  the  people 
have  a  respect  and  love  for  learning,  and  a  literary 
taste,  but  that  nothing  more  need  be  wished  for  on 
this  score  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  that  there  is  in 
this  country  abundant  provision  and  encouragement 
of  every  sort  and  kind  for  the  cultivation  of  all  the 
highest  and  abstrusest  departments  of  science  and 
learning  ;  and  therefore,  to  point  out  any  defects  or 
to  suggest  any  improvements,  evinces  an  equally 
unpatriotic  and  ridiculous  spirit  of  fault-finding  ! 

For  ourselves,  our  simple  creed  on  this  subject 
is,  that  the  love  of  gain  is  a  very  strong  passion, 
and  the  pursuit  of  it  a  very  engrossing  pursuit, 
among  the  people  of  this  nation.  With  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  physical  resources  of  the  country,  and  the 
prodigious  increase  of  commerce  and  manufactures, 
the  tide  of  wealth  has  rolled  over  the  land  ;  and  the 
passion  for  getting  greatly  and  rapidly  rich  has  nat- 
urally kept  pace  with  the  facility  of  getting  rich. 
Now,  connected  with  all  this  there  is  but  one  single 
thing  to  be  feared — ^namely,  lest  the  love  of  gain 
become  exclusive.  There  is  but  one  thing  to  be  de- 
sired— ^not  that  there  should  be  less  wealth,  but— 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      53 

that  along  with  it  there  should  be  more  of  that  high 
intellectual  cultivation  which  is  at  least  an  equally 
indispensable  element  of  national  well-being.  Ac- 
cording to  our  mode  of  thinking,  we  have  already- 
arrived  at  that  point  in  our  history,  when  we  have 
so  far  fulfilled  the  first  and  more  material  part  of 
the  mission  of  a  young  nation^  that  it  has  become 
all-important  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  higher 
and  more  intellectual  part.  For  as  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  dangerous  if  the  subordinate  and  material 
conditions  of  national  well-being  should  acquire  an 
undue  predominance,  so  there  is  ground  to  fear  it. 

It  is  no  matter  how  rich  a  people  may  be,  pro- 
vided there  be  at  the  same  time  a  due  proportion 
of  love  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  interests. 
Otherwise  the  love  of  riches  will  be  excessive,  de- 
basing, dangerous. 

"  It  is  said,  however,"  (observes  the  author,)  "  that  the 
great  evil  is,  we  have  no  checks  to  this  spirit — such,  for 
instance,  as  do  exist  in  the  Old  World.  These  checks,  I 
take  it,  are  established  rank,  primogeniture,  form  of  gov- 
ernment, and  so  on,  matters  all  very  good  for  those  who 
choose  them.  But,  without  stopping  to  give  any  reasons^ 
I  shall  merely  say  that,  for  one,  I  am  very  glad  there  are 
no  such  checks  among  us.  I  should  like,  indeed,  to  stop 
to  ask  a  definition  of  this  same  word  check,  thus  used ;  for 
when  I  turn  to  the  mother  country  where  such  matters 


54  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

are  found,  I  conclude  check  does  not  mean  to  suppress, 
hardly  to  control ;  if  it  does,  why  do  we  hear,  in  the  very 
midst  of  such  checks,  lamentations  over  what  is  called  '  an 
almost  religious  veneration  for  riches  ?  '  I  cannot  but 
stop,  however,  to  admire  the  consistency  of  rejoicing  in 
a  state  of  high  refinement  and  elegant  leisure  which  wealth 
has  brought  about,  and  to  sustain  which  wealth  is  abso- 
lutely indispensable,  and  at  the  same  time  condemning  the 
.pursuit  of  that  which  must  be  attained  in  order  to  the 
same  state  elsewhere.  It  seems  like  the  individual  who 
has  retired  from  a  business  long  and  actively  engaged  in, 
with  his  fortune  and  in  his  splendid  mansion — with  libra- 
ry, pictures,  statues,  garden — gravely  chiding  some  young 
man  who  has  just  started  into  life,  and  comparing  his  own 
learned,  dignified  repose  with  the  vulgar  hurry  and  sordid 
views  of  this  same  money-getting  youth." — Pp.  17,  18. 

This  is  exceedingly  ad  captandum;  we  will  not 
call  it  flippant  and  foolish,  but  it  is  destitute  of  any 
valid  bearing  whatever  upon  the  point  in  question. 
It  is  a  simple  question  of  fact,  whether,  compared 
with  the  degree  of  wealth  and  physical  refinement 
we  have  already  attained,  the  higher  departments 
of  intellectual  production  are  held  in  due  respect, 
duly  provided  for,  and  rewarded.  It  is  a  simple 
question  of  fact,  whether  the  pursuit  of  wealth  does 
not  absorb  an  undue  proportion  of  the  national  en- 
ergies to  the  neglect  of  higher  pursuits.      If  so,  it 

would  seem  quite  easy  to  understand  the  desirable- 
3* 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     55 

ness  of  some  influences  that  might  operate — not 
"  to  suppress  "  the  pursuit  of  wealth  but — really 
to  "  check "  the  tendency  to  a  too  excessive  and 
exclusive  pursuit  of  it.  "  Established  rank,  primo- 
geniture, and  so  on/'  might  not  work  very  well  in 
this  country.  We,  too,  may  be  "  very  glad  "  we 
have  no  such  things  :  they  might  work  more  evils 
here  in  other  respects  than  they  would  prevent  in 
the  particular  respect  in  question.  They  may,  also, 
as  the  author  intimates,  be  quite  insufficient  checks 
in  England  ;  but  that  does  not  prove  they  are  des- 
titute of  all  salutary  effect  even  there  ;  least  of  all 
does  it  prove  that  it  is  not  desirable  there  should 
be  some  influences,  of  some  kind,  in  this  country, 
to  diminish  a  too  exclusive  devotion  to  wealth,  by 
presenting  at  least  other,  if  not  higher,  objects  of 
respect  and  pursuit.  Then,  as  to  the  "  inconsisten- 
cy "  which  our  critic  "  stops  to  admire,"  and  the 
smart  simile  by  which  it  is  illustrated — all  this  is 
easily  put  in  a  just  light  by  the  simple  inquiry, 
whether  we  have  not  already  wealth  enough  in  this 
country  to  justify  and  require  a  much  higher  style 
of  cultivation  than  obtains,  and  a  much  better  pro- 
vision for  the  encouragement  and  reward  of  high 
intellectual  exertion.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  fallacy 
in  the  common-place  talk  about  our  youthfulness 


56  IMPOKTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

as  a  nation.  The  truth  is  that  the  comparatively 
short  period  of  our  national  existence  is  no  measure 
of  our  advancement  in  civilization.  We  are  civil- 
ized enough  and  rich  enough,  not  only  to  have,  but 
for  our  permanent  and  continued  well-being  to  stand 
in  need  of,  some  better  provision  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  higher  departments  of  learning  and  science. 
Not  only  is  there  no  such  necessity,  as  the  orator  in- 
timates, for  the  chief  energies  of  the  country  being 
devoted  to  money-getting,  but,  unless  a  much  larger 
proportion  than  the  spirit  of  the  nation  now  calls 
for,  be  turned  to  higher  objects,  we  shall  become  a 
degenerate  people. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  some,  as  highly  desir- 
able, that  there  should  be  created  in  this  country 
special  endowments,  either  by  legislative  or  private 
munificence,  for  the  support  of  a  body  of  men  devot- 
ed to  the  cultivation  of  those  higher  departments 
of  science  and  learning,  which — although  of  great 
intrinsic  worth,  and_,  rightly  considered,  of  indispen- 
sable importance  among  the  elements  of  national 
well-being — are  not  likely  to  be  adequately  cher- 
ished by  the  people  at  large.  The  author  of  this 
address,  however,  is  opposed  to  such  a  system.  It 
does  not  work  as  well  in  Europe  as  could  be  desired  ; 
therefore  it  is  not  best  to  try  it  at  all !     He  quotes 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.      57 

largely,  from  English  and  continental  authorities  ; 
and  seems  to  think  the  question  is  perfectly  put  at 
rest  hy  them.  Apart  from  the  folly  of  totally  con- 
demning a  system  which,  because  insufficiently 
established,  and  fettered  in  its  working  by  causes 
not  necessary  and  inherent,  does  not  produce  all 
the  results  that  might  be  produced  by  an  adequate 
and  unfettered  system,  the  orator  ought  to  have 
recollected  that  on  a  question  where  "  doctors  disa- 
gree,'" the  disagreement  really  proves  very  little, 
except  the  disagreement ;  certainly  the  opinions  of 
the  doctors  on  one  side  do  not  prove  the  opinions 
of  doctors  on  the  other  side  to  be  wrong.  Speaking 
of  the  English  Cathedral  and  University  endow-  ^ 
ments,  Dr.  Chalmers  recently  said  :  "  it  is  the  ' 
churches  and  colleges  of  England  in  which  is  fos- 
tered into  maturity  and  strength  almost  all  the 
massive  learning  of  our  nation"  Now,  we  take 
leave  to  say,  that  in  our  apprehension  Dr.  Chalmers 
is  right.  What  does  it  avail  to  say,  with  the  Eclec- 
tic Keview,  as  quoted  by  this  orator,  ^'  that  many 
of  the  most  valuable  and  elaborate  productions  of 
the  present  day,  as  well  as  of  former  times,  have 
been  given  to  the  public,  not  by  men  of  leisure  who 
had  uninterrupted  command  of  weeks,  and  months, 
and  years  ;  but  by  men  whose  professional  avoca- 


58  IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

tions  seemed  scarcely  compatible  with  authorship  ?  " 
This  may  be  very  true,  particularly  in  the  depart- 
ments of  History,  Mathematics,  and  Physics — ^not 
to  mention  those  departments  of  literary  production 
which  have  no  relation  whatever  to  the  question. 
Yet  it  is  still  true,  that  even  in  the  departments 
mentioned,  "  many  of  the  most  valuable  and  elabo- 
rate productions  "  have  been  due  to  the  fostering 
influence  of  endowments,  and  would  in  all  likelihood 
never  otherwise  have  been  given  to  the  world.  But 
the  value  of  endowments,  and  the  truth  of  Dr. 
Chalmers'  assertion,  is  seen  in  relation  to  other  de- 
partments of  production.  In  the  Theological,  Clas- 
sical, Ecclesiastical,  Biblical,  and  Oriental  learning 
of  England,  almost  all  the  great  works,  the  most 
valuable  contributions  have  come  from  the  learned 
endowments  of  the  Church  and  Universities.  Now, 
this  is  a  province  of  intellectual  inquiry  in  which 
profound  and  massive  learning  is  requisite  ;  and  we 
say  the  popular  patronage  will  never  demand  and 
adequately  encourage  the  highest  style  of  produc- 
tion. It  is  in  vain  also  to  expect  that  there  will  be 
enough  of  love  and  leisure  for  these  pursuits  to  se- 
cure an  adequate  supply  of  profound  works,  from 
men  absorbed  in  the  cares  of  professional  or  public 
life. 


THE  INTELLECTUAL  SPIRIT  OF  THE  NATION.     59 

Brilliant  exceptions  there  may  occasionally  be,  no 
doubt ;  still  the  general  truth  is  as  we  have  stated 
it.  The  fact  is,  and  there  is  no  controverting  it, 
that  there  are  many  departments  of  production  in 
which  a  profound  and  thorough  learning  is  requi- 
site ;  such  as  can  be  acquired  only  by  a  life-long  de- 
votion ;  which  the  popular  patronage  has  never  any- 
where rewarded  and  never  wiU  reward  ;  which  has 
been  secured  by  the  endowments  of  England.  Pop- 
ular favor  will  reward  the  exertions  of  a  Scott,  an 
Irving,  a  Dickens,  whom  we  mention  with  all  honor 
and  respect — as  well  of  some  others,  for  whom  we 
profess  no  respect ;  but  that  popular  patronage  will 
ever  give,  not  fortunes,  but  even  a  decent  subsist- 
ence, in  reward  for  the  exertions  of  such  men  as 
More,  and  Cudworth,  and  Potter,  and  Lowth,  and 
Lee,  and  hundreds  of  others,  who,  under  the  genial 
fostering  of  England's  endowments,  have  spent  their 
lives  in  learned  labors  for  the  "  honor  of  their  coun- 
try and  the  glory  of  God  " — any  man  must  be  very 
weak  to  expect.  Now,  we  happen  to  be  of  opinion 
that  the  labors  of  such  men  are  as  valuable  and 
necessary  a  part  of  a  nation's  best  wealth,  as  those 
of  a  Scott  or  an  Irving  (and  we  value  as  much 
as  anybody  the  labors  of  such  as  these)  ;  and  be- 
lieving, as  we  do,  that  in  this  country  we  are  la- 


60         IMPORTANCE  OF  ELEVATING 

mentably  deficient,  and  that  popular  patronage 
will  never  secure  us  sucli  labors,  we  should  be  ex- 
ceedingly glad  to  see  a  wise  and  well-regulated 
system  of  endowments  to  encourage  and  reward 
them. 


THE  POSITIOiN  A^^D  DUTIES  OF  THE  EDUCATED  MExN 
OF  THE  COUNTEY. 


THE  POSITION  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  EDU- 
CATED MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


We  meet,  on  this  your  anniversary,  as  a  Broth- 
erhood of  Scholars  ;  and  perhaps  I  should  best  have 
consulted  the  spirit  of  the  occasion,  if  I  had  selected 
some  subject  of  purely  literary  interest,  or  endeav- 
ored merely  to  promote  the  elegant  enjoyment  of 
the  hour.  But  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  give 
our  thoughts  a  more  practical  direction.  I  remem- 
ber that  but  few,  if  any  of  us,  are  mere  scholars. 
Those  who  have  come  here  to-day  from  different 
places,  have  come  up  from  strenuous  engagement 
with  the  intense  life  that  is  heaving  and  struggling 
all  around  us  ;  and  when  we  go  from  here,  it  is  to 
return  into  the  crowd  and  pressure  of  that  life  again. 
And  those  who  are  about  to  be  sent  out  at  this 


64  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

time  from  this  seat  of  learning,  must  leave  "the 
still  air  of  delightful  studies/'  in  this  quiet  and 
beautiful  retreat,  and  go  forth  to  do  honor  to  their 
Benignant  Mother  in  the  active  service  of  their 
country  and  their  God. 

On  this  account  I  have  thought  it  might  be 
appropriate  and  profitable  for  us,  as  from  this  land- 
ing-place, to  look  out  over  the  scene  in  which  it  is 
our  destiny  to  live  and  work  ;  and  to  notice  what 
it  presents  for  warning  and  for  guidance  : — not 
forgetting  indeed  that  we  are  scholars,  but  on  the 
contrary,  bearing  in  mind  that  our  obligations 
are  specially  determined  by  the  fact  of  our  belong- 
ing to  the  educated  class  in  the  nation. — It  is 
therefore  of  the  Position  and  Duties  of  the  Edu- 
cated men  of  the  country,  that  I  wish  at  this  time 
to  speak. 

It  will  not  be  questioned  that  the  scholars  of 
our  country  have  a  special  vocation,  which  is  deter- 
mined by  all  that  constitutes  the  peculiar  charac- 
teristics of  our  country  and  of  our  age.  It  is  in- 
cumbent on  us,  therefore,  to  comprehend  the  spirit 
of  our  country  and  of  our  age.  We  are  to  remem- 
ber that  we  have  fallen  on  the  nineteenth  century 
and  not  on  the  twelfth — that  we  live  in  America, 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   65 

and  not  in  Austria.  I  do  not  mean  that  we  should 
not  understand  the  Past.  Unless  we  understand 
the  Past,  we  cannot  understand  the  Present;  for 
the  Present  is  born  of  the  Past.  Nor  do  I  mean 
that  we  should  not  seek  to  understand  the  most 
general  spirit  of  the  world,  as  well  as  of  the  coun- 
try in  which  we  live  ;  for  our  country  stands  in  man- 
ifold relations  with  other  countries,  and,  rightly 
considered,  moreover,  there  are,  in  every  age,  pul- 
sations which  throb  throughout  the  heart  of  uni- 
versal Humanity.  Still,  it  is  to  the  actual  mind 
and  heart  of  our  own  country  we  must  speak,  if  we 
mean  to  live  and  speak  to  any  purpose  in  our  own 
times,  or  even  for  the  times  that  shaU  come  after  us. 
Karely  in  the  history  of  mankind  is  there  to  be 
found  any  great  work  of  genius,  of  permanent  and 
enduring  influence,  which  has  not  borne  the  form 
and  pressure  of  its  age.  Not  always  in  sympathy, 
often  indeed  in  resistance  to  the  spirit  of  their  times, 
yet  ever,  with  few  exceptions,  as  those  who  knew 
and  felt  what  was  the  spirit  of  their  times,  have 
the  great  thinkers  and  teachers  of  the  world  uttered 
themselves.  And  above  all  things  is  it  requisite 
that  the  educated  men  of  this  country  should  under- 
stand the  spirit  of  the  country  in  which  they  are  to 
live  and  work. 


66  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

The  educated  class  represcDt  the  liberal  cultiva- 
tion of  the  nation  ;  and  to  them  chiefly  belongs  the 
duty  of  sustaining  and  cherishing  the  higher  and 
more  spiritual  elements  of  social  well-being. 

The  manifold  elements  which  compose  the  well- 
being  of  a  nation  may  be  comprehended  under  the 
twofold  division  of  material  or  physical,  and  moral 
or  spiritual. — In  the  material  are  included  the 
means  of  physical  support  and  comfort — food,  cloth- 
ing, and  shelter  ;  the  security  of  person  and  prop- 
erty ;  the  arts  of  life  which  serve  to  multiply  and 
refine  the  sources  of  material  enjoyment ;  in  short, 
every  thing  that  relates  to  the  useful  or  to  the  agree- 
able— every  thing  that  is  implied  in  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  word  civilization. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  spiritual  elements  of 
national  well-being  result  from  the  unfolding  and 
activity  of  the  principles  of  man's  higher  life,  as 
a  being  capable  of  the  Idea  and  Love  of  the  True, 
the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good, — capable  of  discerning 
that  these  words  relate  to  objects  which  have  a 
reality  and  a  worth  beyond  aU  material  objects,  a 
value  independent  of  all  consequences  of  private 
advantage.  Hence,  among  the  spiritual  elements 
of  social  welfare  are  to  be  reckoned  the  pursuits  of 
pure  science ;  the  productions  of  creative  Art ;  the 


OP  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   67 

sense  also  of  justice,  honor,  patriotism,  loyalty,  and 
reverence  ;  and  the  heroic  spirit  that  can  dare  and 
endure  for  unselfish  ends  ;  in  short  eveiy  thing  that 
is  implied  in  the  culture  of  a  nation  as  distin- 
guished from  its  mere  civilization. 

To  the  proper  well-being  of  a  nation  it  is  essen- 
tial that  these  elements  should  exist  in  a  due  and 
proportionable  blending.  It  is  indispensable  that 
the  material  should  be  subordinated  to  the  moral 
interests.  Wherever  and  in  whatever  degree  the 
reason  becomes  enslaved  to  the  senses,  there  and  in 
that  degree  do  the  people  sink  below  their  proper 
life,  and  fail  to  realize  the  true  idea  of  a  common- 
wealth.— Yet  it  is  of  the  infirmity  of  our  corrupted 
nature  that  the  sensual  life,  as  in  individuals  so  in 
nations,  is  ever  tending  to  predominate  over  the 
spiritual. 

In  our  country  this  tendency  is  prodigiously 
increased  by  causes  connected  with  the  physical 
growth  of  the  country,  and  with  the  working  of  our 
political  institutions. 

Our  country  offers  the  most  remarkable  spec- 
tacle ever  presented  in  the  history  of  humanity. 
From  three  millions,  in  little  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, we  have  grown  to  seventeen  millions  of  peo- 
ple.    Inheriting  an  immense  territory,  teeming  with 


68  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

boundless  resources,  we  entered  upon  the  first  mis- 
sion of  every  infant  nation — that  of  subduing  the 
rude  yet  rich  nature  that  spread  out  everywhere 
around  us.  In  this  task  we  have  not  been  compelled 
to  proceed  with  the  slow  steps  that  have  marked  the 
progress  of  other  nations.  To  the  work  of  unfolding 
the  wealth  of  the  new  world,  we  have  brought  all 
the  facilities  afforded  by  the  mature  civilization  of 
the  old  world.  The  science,  the  skill,  and  the  cap- 
ital of  Europe,  which  centuries  have  been  slowly 
accumulating  there,  have  been  grasped  and  applied 
here  with  a  boldness  and  energy  that  have  wrought 
in  a  day  the  labors  of  an  age.  It  is  but  a  few  years 
since  we  entered  upon  the  conquest  of  a  country 
wilder  than  Grermany  in  the  days  of  C83sar,  and  ten 
times  more  extensive  ;  and  yet  in  that  short  space 
we  have  reached  a  point  of  physical  development 
which  twenty  centuries  have  not  accomplished  there. 
The  forests  have  fallen  down — the  earth  has  been 
quarried — cities  and  towns  have  sprung  up  all  over 
the  immense  extent  of  our  land,  thronged  with  life, 
and  resounding  with  the  multitudinous  hum  of  traf- 
fic ;  and  from  hundreds  of  ports  the  canvas  of  ten 
thousand  sails  whitens  all  the  ocean  and  every  sea, 
bearing  the  products  of  our  soil  and  manufactures, 
and  bringing  back  the  wealth  and  luxuries  of  every 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   69 

quarter  of  the  globe. — Then,  too,  the  tremendous 
agencies  of  Nature — the  awful  forces  evolved  by 
chemical  and  dynamic  science — have  been  subdued 
to  man's  dominion,  and  have  become  submissive 
ministers  to  his  will,  more  prompt  and  more  pow- 
erful than  the  old  fabled  genii  of  the  Arabian 
Tales.  Little  did  our  fathers,  little  did  we  ourselves, 
even  the  youngest  of  us,  dream — in  the  days  of  out 
childhood,  when  we  fed  our  wondering  imaginations 
with  the  prodigies  wrought  by  those  Elemental 
Spirits  evoked  by  the  talismanic  seal  of  Solomon — 
that  these  were  but  faint  foreshado wings  of  what 
our  eyes  should  see  in  the  familiar  goings  on  of  the 
everyday  hfe  around  us.  Yet  so  it  truly  is.  Ha  ! 
gentlemen,  the  Steam  engine  is  your  true  Elemen- 
tal Spirit  ;  it  more  than  realizes  the  gorgeous  ideas 
of  the  old  Oriental  imagination  ;  tJiat  had  its  dif- 
ferent orders  of  elemental  spirits — genii  of  fire,  of 
water,  of  earth,  and  of  air,  whose  everlasting  hostil- 
ity could  never  be  subdued  to  unity  of  purpose  ;  this 
combines  the  powers  of  all  in  one,  and  a  child  may 
control  them  !  —  Across  the  ocean,  along  our  coast, 
through  the  length  of  a  hundred  rivers,  with  the 
speed  of  wind,  we  plough  our  way  against  currents, 
wind,  and  tide  ;  while,  on  iron  roads,  through   the 

length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  innumerable  trains, 
3* 


70  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

thronged  with  human  life  and  freighted  with  the 
wealth  of  the  nation,  are  urging  their  way  in  every 
direction — flying  through  the  valleys  ;  thundering 
across  the  rivers  ;  panting  up  the  sides,  or  piercing 
throuo-h  the  hearts  of  the  mountains,  with  the  resist- 
less  force  of  Kghtning  and  scarcely  less  swift ! 

All  this  is  wonderful  !  I  look  upon  it  with  ad- 
miration, not  unmixed  with  awe.  The  old  limita- 
tions to  human  endeavor  seem  to  be  broken  through 
— the  everlasting  conditions  of  time  and  space  seem 
to  be  annulled !  Meanwhile  the  magnificent 
achievements  of  to-day  lead  but  to  grander  projects 
for  to-morrow.  Success  in  the  past  serves  but  to 
enlarge  the  purposes  of  the  future  ;  and  the  peo- 
ple are  rushing  onward  in  a  career  of  physical  de- 
velopment, to  which  no  bounds  can  be  assigned. 

Yet  we  must  remember  that  all  this  is  only  the 
spectacle  of  the  energies  of  a  great  people  intensely 
directed  to  material  ends.  It  is  the  unfolding  of  the 
conditions  of  physical  enjoyment.  And  however 
great  and  important  these  are,  they  constitute  but  a 
part,  and  that  a  subordinate  part,  of  the  elements 
of  social  welfare  and  the  true  greatness  of  a  nation. 
Unless  interpenetrated  and  sanctified  by  the  per- 
vading presence  of  the  higher  elements  of  spiritual 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   71 

culture,  their  tendency  is  to  corrupt  and  degrade  us. 
They  can  make  us  rich  and  highly  civilized,  though 
they  can  never  give  to  civilization  its  highest 
charm  of  graceful  refinement ;  -for  that  is  a  spiritual 
quality,  and  can  only  come  of  moral  culture.  They 
may  make  us  rich  ;  but  may  leave  us  vulgar,  purse- 
proud,  ostentatious,  and  sensual;  and  never,  in  them- 
selves and  of  their  own  tendency,  can  they  make  us 
a  wise,  a  good,  and  truly  happy  people.  Besides, 
it  cannot  be  denied,  in  a  profounder  view,  that 
the  physical  science  of  the  ninteenth  century  ;  the 
mysterious  forces  of  Nature  which  it  has  evolved ; 
the  tremendous  powers  which  it  has  subjected  to 
the  will  of  man ;  and  the  immeasurably  greater 
scope  which  he  thereby  gains,  for  rendering  his  out- 
ward life  intense  and  diversified,  have  a  tendency, 
not  only  to  foster  the  spirit  of  absorbing  worldli- 
ness,  but  also  to  engender  a  proud,  irreverent,  and 
godless  spirit.  I  know  that  this  is  not  its  ne- 
cessary result ;  God  be  thanked  that  it  is  not. 
To  the  right-hearted  inquirer,  every  new  disclo- 
sure of  science  may  only  serve  to  cherish  a  low- 
lier sense  of  the  littleness  of  man's  knowledge,  and 
a  profounder  reverence  for  the  Great  Being,  who, 
though  pervading  and  upholding  all  Nature,  yet, 
in  his  absolute  glory  and  personal  attributes,  dwell- 


72  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

ing  above  all  Nature,  can,  by  our  mortal  vision,  be 
only  dimly  seen  in  the  glimpses  of  himself  which 
shine  through  the  enveloping  folds  of  the  material 
universe.  Still,  wherever,  among  the  mass  of  a 
people,  physical  science  is  wholly  or  chiefly  prized 
as  it  ministers  to  wealth  and  enjoyment,  the  spirit 
which  it  tends  to  engender  is  any  thing  but  rever- 
ent. Imagine  a  people  destitute  of  spiritual  cul- 
ture ;  where  science  is  pursued  merely  for  the  sake 
of  compelling  the  powers  of  Nature  to  minister  to 
man's  physical  convenience ;  where  there  are  no 
arts  but  arts  of  pleasure  ;  where  the  forms  of  hon- 
esty and  justice  are  only  outward  forms,  enacted 
and  observed  as  politic  contrivances  for  individual 
and  general  comfort ; — imagine  such  a  people,  and 
you  have  before  your  minds  a  people  without  honor, 
or  magnanimity,  without  public  spirit,  loyalty,  or 
heroism,  without  reverence,  morality,  or  religion. 
They  might  be  civilized  in  the  highest  degree  ;  they 
might  overflow  with  wealth  ;  the  earth,  the  ocean, 
and  the  air,  might  pour  forth  all  their  treasures  ; 
they  might  be  surrounded  with  all  the  means  and 
refinements  of  material  enjoyment,  with  not  a  crum- 
pled rose  leaf  to  disquiet  the  couch  of  luxurious 
ease  ;  and  yet  they  would  be  only  a  nation  of  re- 
fined animals,  of  civilized  brutes.     We  should  belie 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   73 

the  instincts  of  our  reason  and  conscience,  if  we 
should  think  otherwise   of  them. 

Happily,  such  a  picture  is  only  imaginary. — 
Thanks  to  the  benignant  influences  of  Divine"  Grace 
diffused  throughout  the  world,  the  reason  and  con- 
science, the  spiritual  life  of  man,  though  overmas- 
tered, can  never  be  wholly  crushed  out  ;  and  the 
social  and  domestic  instincts  are  ever  evolving 
moral  affections — love,  self-denial,  sacrifice,  hero- 
ism— which  serve  to  exalt  and  purify  the  earthly 
life  of  man.  None  the  less,  however,  is  it  true, 
that  whenever  the  material  greatly  predominate 
over  the  moral  elements  in  the  life  of  any  people, 
then  the  spirit  of  the  nation  begins  to  approximate 
to  the  corrupt,  unhallowed,  godless  state  we  have 
imagined. 

Now  looking  at  the  condition  of  our  country  at 
this  moment,  have  we  nothing  to  fear  ?  I  do  not 
quarrel  with  the  prodigious  growth  of  the  elements 
of  physical  prosperity.  I  only  ask,  whether  we 
have  not  reason  to  dread  an  overgrowth  ?  Is  not 
our  danger  on  this  side  ?  I  know  there  are  many 
who  have  no  other  idea  of  national  well-being  than 
riches  and  greatness.  So  that  a  people  can  subdue 
the  earth  to  serve  the  turn  of  their  worldly  uses  ;  so 


74 


POSITION  AND  DUTIES 


that  they  can  accumulate  wealth  and  the  means  of 
enjoyment — that  is  the  extent  of  their  solicitude. 
They  laugh  at  all  this  talk  ahout  the  higher  and 
more  spiritual  elements  of  social  welfare.  I  thank 
God  I  am  not  of  the  number  of  such  persons.  "  Con- 
tempt is  ever  the  growth  of  a  thin  soil ; ''  **  and 
contempt  of  high  moral  and  religious  considerations 
is  eminently  the  mark  of  a  poor  and  shallow  intel- 
lect. For  myself,  I  must  profess  my  conviction 
that  we  are  very  far  from  growing  wise  and  good' and 
truly  happy  as  a  nation,  in 'the  proportion  that  we 
are  growing  rich  and  great.  I  believe  there  is  a 
prodigious  and  increasing  overgrowth  of  the  cor- 
rupting spirit  of  worldliness.  I  had  rather  we 
should  be  poor  as  Iceland,  yet  with  its  pure  faith 
and  morals  and  its  love  of  letters,  than  we  should  go 
on  increasing  in  wealth  and  greatness  without  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  spiritual  culture  and  moral 
worth.  I  had  rather — if  this  must  be  the  alterna- 
tive. But  it  need  not  be.  If  God  has  planted  us 
in  a  richer  land,  I  do  not  see  but  we  may  unfold 
and  appropriate  its  manifold  resources,  without  neg- 
lecting the  culture  of  our  higher  life.  We  may 
dwell  on  the  earth,  and  thrive  ;  yet  we  need  not  be 

*  Richard  H.  Dana ;  unpublished  Lectures. 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   75 

mere  thriving  earth-worms.  We  may  follow  worldly 
callings,  and  yet  not  be  worldly-minded.  We  may 
possess  and  enjoy  wealth,  without  sinking  into  the 
life  of  mere  material  enjoyment.  The  danger  is 
great,  it  is  true  ;  but  corruption  is  not  the  necessary 
result  of  physical  prosperity. — I  cannot  doubt  that 
it  is  in  the  intentions  of  God,  in  the  progress  of  our 
race,  that  the  material  world  shall  be  still  more  per- 
fectly subjugated,  and  its  resources  of  material  en- 
joymeni;  be  still  more  fully  unfolded ;  and  yet  the 
whole  physical  life  of  humanity  be  subordinated  to 
its  moral  life — pervaded  by  it — yea,  made  to  sub- 
serve its  growth  and  perfection.  If  this  be  so,  the 
problem  is  not  to  arrest  the  physical  growth  of  the 
country,  but  to  make  it  the  means  of  more  perfectly 
unfolding  our  proper  humanity,  by  the  culture  of 
the  elements  of  spiritual  life.  To  contribute  to  the 
solution  of  this  problem  is  eminently  the  vocation  of 
the  scholars  of  our  country — of  all  who  have  been 
trained  in  liberal  studies — of  all  who  work  in  the 
liberal  professions. 

Let  us  now  for  a  moment  advert  to  the  working 
of  our  political  institutions  ;  for  in  this  aspect  our 
country  presents  a  spectacle  no  less  remarkable  than 
in  its  physical  growth.      I  beg  however  a  candid 


76  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

construction  of  wliat  I  am  about  to  say.  I  am  of 
no  political  party ;  and  I  shall  not  speak  of  party 
questions  ;  but  of  principles  and  of  the  tendencies 
of  principles,  common  to  all  parties  ;  and  perhaps 
I  may  say  some  things  which  to  neither  party  will 
be  entirely  acceptable.  Yet  I  cannot  think  that  in 
a  survey  of  the  moral  condition  of  our  country,  we 
should  be  justified  in  leaving  out  of  view  the  most 
pervading  and  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  influences 
that  affect  the  character  of  a  nation — its  political 
institutions.  Nor  can  I  think  that  courtesy,  or  the 
proprieties  gf  an  occasion  like  the  present,  should 
exclude  all  political  views,  except  such  as  are  known 
to  be  held  in  common  by  all.  It  seems  to  me  that 
we  should  rather  suffer  every  man  freely  to  utter 
the  thought  that  is  in  him — whether  it  be  an  echo 
of  our  own  or  not — ^if  so  it  be  uttered  with  deep 
conviction,  with  an  earnest  spirit,  and  with  an  hon- 
est purpose.  Without  any  party  bias,  then,  and 
with  the  highest  respect  for  all  those  whose  opinions 
may  not  coincide  with  my  own,  I  shall  proceed 
to  express  myself  in  my  own  fashion  of  thinking 
and  speaking,  relying  on  a  kind  and  candid  con- 
struction. 

Theoretically  perfect  as  is  the   frame  of  our 
government,  it   implies   conditions  of  virtue   and 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   77 

wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  people,  which  if  they  do 
not  adequately  exist,  renders  ours  the  most  danger- 
ous of  all  forms  of  government  ;  and  I  must  avow 
my  conviction  that  in  its  practical  working,  or 
rather  in  its  ahuses,  our  system  is  tending  with  pro- 
digious power  to  corrupt  and  demoralize  the  nation. 

It  is  the  fundamental  maxim  of  all  political 
ethics,  that  political  Eights  imply  political  Obliga- 
tions :  so  much  the  more  Liberty  a  people  enjoys, 
and  so  many  the  more  Rights  thoy  possess,  so  many 
the  more  are  their  Duties. — Yet  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, notions  of  popular  rights  appear  to  me  to 
have  sprung  up  and  spread  over  the  country,  which 
are  false,  absurd,  and  dangerous.  We  have  got  the 
habit  of  taking  for  granted  that  the  people  have  a 
right  to  do,  whatever  they  please  to  do  ;  and  that 
whatever  they  please  to  do  is  therefore  right.  Po- 
litical Right  has  thus  become  separated  from  Duty  ; 
and  has  practically  come  to  mean  nothing  but  mere 
PopuL'AR  Will. 

We  are  continually  told  that  the  sovereign  pow- 
er resides  in  the  people.  This  is  in  its  naked  form 
but  a  half-truth  :  and,  as  has  been  well  said,  a  half- 
truth  is  often  the  greatest  of  lies.  It  is  unques- 
tionably true  that  the  sovereign  power,  in  a  certain 
sense,  resides  in  the  people  ;  but  in  the  sense  in 


78 


POSITION  AND  DUTIES 


wLicli  it  is  commonly  understood,  it  is  a  great  and 

pernicious  error. — It  is  God's  ordinance,  and  the 

necessity  of  man's  nature,  that  man  should  exist  in 

;  Society.     To  do  this  he  must  exist  as  a  State — 

•  that  is,  a  community  in  which  justice  and  social 

'order  are  maintained.     Goveknment  is  the  powers 

of  the  State  organized,  embodied,  and  put  in  action ; 

and  the  form  of  Government,  is  the  particular  mode 

in  which  the  powers  of  the  State  are  embodied  and 

put  in  action. 

Now  undoubtedly  the  sovereign  power  resides  in 
the  People,  in  the  sense  that  the  People  have  the 
right  of  determining  the  form  of  their  Goyerament. 
This  is  indeed  a  natural  right,  but  it  is  so  no  fur- 
ther than  as  men  have  a  natural  right  to  choose  in 
which  way  among  several  possible  ways,  they  will 
fulfil  a  duty  ;  and  it  is  absurd  to  lay  undue  stress 
upon  the  term.  It  is  not,  however,  an  absolute 
right ;  but  a  right  growing  out  of  a  duty,  and  limited 
by  duty.  Society  has  the  right  of  choosing  the 
form  of  its  Government,  because  it  is  the  duty  of 
Society  to  exist  as  a  State  for  the  maintenance  of 
social  justice,  and  must  have  some  form  of  govern- 
ment ;  and  it  may  choose  any  particular  form  it 
prefers,  provided  it  fulfils  the  duty  of  the  State — 
maintains  the  relations  of  j.ustice — without  which 


■  OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   79 

Society  cannot"  exist.  In  this  sense,  unquestionably, 
and  in  so  far  as  relates  to  the  form  of  government, 
the  sovereign  power  resides  in  the  People  ;  still  it 
is  not  precisely  an  accurate  statement  of  this  truth 
to  say,  that  the  people  have  the  right  to  choose 
whatever  form  of  government  they  please,  without 
regard  to  anything  but  their  own  mere  will ;  for, 
unless  the  various  forms  of  government  are  assumed 
to  be  equally  adapted  to  the  great  ends  of  society, 
it  is  more  true  to  say  that  the  people  ought  to 
choose — not  that  form  of  government  whigh  they 
may  simply  prefer,  Jb-ut— that  form  which  they  con- 
scientiously believe  to  l)e  the  best  adapted  ufider  all 
the  circumstaruces  to.  secure  the  true  ends  of  all 
government. 

Hence  it  is  clear,  that  the  foundation  of  govern- 
ment is  not  iii  the  mere  unlimited  will  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  that  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  is  not 
in  mere  natural  right,  but  in  duty.  We  are  too 
prone  in  general  to  forget  the  great  comprehensive 
truth,  that  rights  and  obligations  ever  go  together. 
There  is  scarcely  such  a  thing  in  all  the  empire  of 
God^  as  the  absolute  right  of  doing  what  one  merely 
WILLS  to  do.  The  only  absolute  right  fn  the  uni- 
verse, is  the  right  of  not  being  loronged.  And  in 
political  affairs,  neither  the  mere  will  of  a  majority, 


80  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

nor  even  of  the  whole  people^  can  itself  make  a 
thing  right^  or  justify  their  action.  Nothing  can  be 
made  right  by  mere  willing  to  do  it. — Still,  as  a 
right  which  is  to  be  dutifully  exercised,  I  maintain 
the  doctrine  that  the  sovereignty  is  vested  in  the 
people.  And  in  the  exercise  of  the  sovereign  pow- 
er residing  in  them,  the  people  of  this  country  have 
organized  our  form  of  government — and  have  defined 
and  distributed  the  powers  of  the  State.  They 
have  done  this  in  our  Constitution.  Practically 
therefore  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  sovereignty, 
at  this  moment,  and  so  long  as  the  Constitution 
stands  unrepealed,  is  lodged  in  the  Constitution. 
That  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  ;  there  resides 
the  sovereign  power  of  the  nation ;  and  it  resides 
there  out  of  the  reach  of  the  present  will  of  a  mere 
numerical  majority.  The  Constitution  can  be 
changed  only  under  particular  circumstances,  and  by 
three  fourths  of  the  states. 

To  this  Constitution  the  people  of  the  United 
States  at  this  moment  owe  an  allegiance  as  loyal 
and  profound,  as  was  ever  claimed  for  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  and  much  more  sacred  and  enno- 
bling. To  all  practical  purposes  the  political  rights 
and  duties  of  the  people  are  just  what  they  are  de- 
fined and   prescribed   to  be  by  the   Constitution. 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   81 

They  have  no  other  political  rights  than  are  therein 
allowed  ;  and  are  bound  to  all  the  duties  therein 
enjoined. — The  Idea  of  the  State  in  our  country- 
is  :  all  the  people  acting  under  and  according  to 
the  Constitution.  This  is  what  we  mean  by  a  free, 
Constitutional  government,  in  distinction  from  a 
pure  Democracy,  like  that  of  Athens,  where  all 
the  people  act  without  a  Constitution.  Such  is  the 
State  in  theory. — In  regard  to  the  practical  exercise 
of  Sovereign  powers,  it  takes  three  fourths  of  the 
people  to  constitute  the  State.  A  mere  majority 
is  therefore  no  more  the  State,  than  Louis  XIY. 
was  the  State  ;  and  it  is  sheer  absolutism,  in  our 
country,  for  the  majority  to  set  itself  up  as  the  State, 
just  as  much  as  it  was  in  France  for  Louis  XIY.  to 
set  himself  up  as  the  State.  The  Supreme  Power 
of  the  nation  no  more  resides  in  a  mere  numerical 
majority  than  in  the  minority.  The  majority  pos- 
sess just  those  rights  and  powers  which  are  given 
by  the  Constitution,  and  no  others.  What  are  they  ? 
As  to  their  personal  rights — though  these  are  not 
strictly  in  the  question,  yet  they  may  here  be  stated 
— in  common  with  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land, 
strangers  or  citizens,  voters  or  not  voters,  the  ma- 
jority have  the  right  of  being  protected  as  individ- 
uals in  their  persons  and  property,  provided  they 


82  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

do  DO  wrong  ;  and  if  they  do  wrong,  of  being  fairly 
tried  according  to  law  by  the  judgment  of  their 
peers. — As  to  their  political  rights  ;  in  common  with 
all  voters,  they  have  in  certain  cases,  in  reference 
to  the  appointment  of  certain  public  agents,  the 
right  of  suffrage  ;  and  in  regard  to  the  questions 
thus  submitted  to  the  whole  body  of  voters,  the  ma- 
jority have  the  right  of  deciding.  The  amount  of 
the  political  rights  of  the  majority,  then  is  this  : 
that  their  will,  when  legally  expressed,  is  decisive 
in  regard  to  a  certain  number  of  questions  submitted 
by  the  Constitution  to  a  popular  vote. — So  far  there- 
fore from  constituting  the  State,  a  numerical  ma- 
jority of  the  people,  in  their  political  action,  is  sim- 
ply an  organic  part  of  the  State,  just  as  the  Legis- 
lative, Judiciary,  and  Executive,  are  organic  parts 
of  the  Government ;  and  its  rights  and  powers,  like 
theirs,  are  conferred,  defined,  and  limited  by  the 
Constitution  ;  and  finally  these  rights  and  powers 
are  inseparably  linked  with  duties — the  majority  are 
bound  to  act  within  their  limits,  and  to  act  con- 
scientiously there. 

These  are  the  simplest  elements  of  our  j)olitical 
ethics.  They  belong  to  the  very  primer  of  our  po- 
litical science. — Yet  how  well  are  they  understood  ; 
how  much  are  they  felt ;  how  much  are  they  practi- 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OP  THE  COUNTRY.   83 

cally  regarded  ? — ^Alas,  gentlemen,  I  know  not  how 
it  may  appear  to  you  ;  but  to  me  it  seems  that  in 
comparison  with  their  indispensable  necessity  to 
our  political  salvation,  these  truths  are  scarcely  at 
all  felt.  Unless  I  greatly  mistake  the  spirit  of  the 
country,  there  is  a  blind  feeling,  widely  prevalent 
and  rapidly  increasing,  as  if  the  mere  present  will 
of  a  majority,  however  expressed,  and  on  all  subjects, 
as  well  without  as  within  its  legal  limits,  is,  and  of 
right  ought  to  be,  the  supreme  power  of  the  nation. 
Whenever  the  people  are  told  that  there  is  any  thing 
which  they  cannot  rightfully  do,  their  impulse  is  to 
feel  indignant,  as  if  some  monstrous  outrage  were 
perpetrated  against  the  sacred  principles  of  eternal 
justice,  which  they  were  called  upon  to  avenge. 
To  differ  from  the  popular  opinion  seems  to  them 
a  crime — a  thing  to  be  punished.  They  cannot  un- 
derstand that  you  have  as  good  a  right  to  your 
opinion,  as  they  to  theirs — that  they  differ  from  you, 
as  much  as  you  do  from  them. — In  proof  that  this 
is  so,  go  and  address  the  popular  political  assem- 
blages of  our  country.  Tell  them  that  you  honestly 
believe  it  to  be  a  possible  thing  that  tTiere  shall  not 
be  wisdom  and  virtue  enough  in  the  nation  to  make 
the  experiment  of  self-government  successful ;  and 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  you  provoke  their  displeas- 


84  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

nre,  not  merely  for  being  bold  enough  to  utter  an 
unpopular  doctrine,  but  as  being  guilty  of  treason 
against  the  sacred  principles  of  freedom.  Tell  them 
that  you  think  it  best  for  the  popular  good,  and 
therefore  right,  that  the  popular  will  should  be 
checked  by  constitutional  restraints  ;  and  ten  to  one 
you  will  be  hustled  from  the  stand  as  an  aristocrat, 
a  monarchist,  an  enemy  to  the  people.  Or,  if  they 
allow  you  to  remain  there  long  enough,  tell  them 
that  the  original  framers  of  our  Constitution  were 
true  and  genuine  lovers  of  rational  freedom,  and  yet 
that  they  have  framed  the  Constitution  so  as  to  be 
a  check  upon  a  present  numerical  majority ;  that 
our  frame  of  government  in  various  respects  is  full 
of  restraints  upon  the  popular  will  ; — and  there  are 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  to  whom  such  doc- 
trine would  be  entirely  strange  and  revolting.  They 
would  not  even  believe  you.  Yet  you  would  tell 
them  nothing  but  the  truth — nothing  which  our 
public  men  do  not  know  to  be  true.  Why  is  it,  then, 
that  our  public  men  rarely  or  never  tell  the  people 
these  truths,  comment,  explain,  and  urge  them  ? 
It  is  because  these  truths,  however  important  and 
vital,  are  odious  to  the  people  ;  and  they  will  not 
bear  them. 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   85 

From  ^his  erroneous  and  exaggerated  notion  of 
'Eights,  ^nd  this  feeble  sense  of  Duties,  it  is  easy  to 
see  to  what  dangers  we  are  exposed.  When  the 
people  feel  as  if  the  cause  of  popular  rights,  as  they 
understand  them — that  is,  the  right  of  the  majority 
to  do  just  what  it  pleases — is  not  only  their  own 
cause,  but  the  cause  of  every  thing  most  sacred,  of 
Truth,  of  Freedom,  and  of  God  ;  what  protection 
has  society  against  licentious  abuses  of  power  ?  In 
private  life  the  man  who  does  every  thing  he  has  a 
right  to  do,  in  the  sense  of  the  word  now  in  ques- 
tion— that  is,  every  thing  which  the  Law  will  not 
punish  him  for  doing — is  a  villain.  That  we  are 
not  cursed  with  such  villains  at  every  turn  in  life, 
we  owe  to  the  influence  of  conscience  and  the  pow- 
er of  public  opinion.  But  what  protection  is  there 
in  conscience,  or  in  public  opinion,  against  the  un- 
just acting  of  a  people  firmly  believing  in  the  Di- 
vine Eight  of  a  majority  to  have  its  own  way  at  all 
events  ?  How  much  is  the  responsibility  of  a  mul- 
titude felt  by  the  individuals  that  compose  it  .^  Is 
it  not  practically  as  if  it  were  a  question  concerning 
the  seventeen  millionth  part  of  the  national  con- 
science ? — In  the  name  of  Liberty  the  Jacobins  of 
France  cut  off  the  heads  of  poor  decrepit  old  women 
for  complaining  of  the  national  bread  ;  for  not  crying 


86  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

out  lustily  enough  the  watchwords  of  revolutionary 
frenzy  ;  and  even  for  the  singular  crime  of  being 
"  suspected  of  incivism."  Hundreds  of  similar 
atrocities  you  may  find  in  the  records  of  their 
Kevolutionary  Tribunals.  I  do  not  say  that  we  shall 
ever  witness  anv  such  abominable  excesses  amonsr 
us.  I  do  not  believe  we  shall.  None  the  less  how- 
ever are  we  bound  to  be  aware  of  the  dangers  to 
which  we  are  exposed  from  exaggerated  notions  of 
the  rights  of  majorities.  The  tendency  is  to  make  the 
popular  will  overbear  all  moral  considerations,  and 
all  constitutional  limitations.  Popular  majorities 
may  come  to  feel  themselves  justified  in  reaching 
their  ends  by  almost  any  and  every  means.  In  the 
strife  of  party  politics  the  people  may  come  to  feel 
as  if  it  were  allowable  to  secure  a  victory  in  any 
way,  right  or  wrong  ;  and  political  corruption,  if  not 
openly  justified,  will  be  condemned  only  in  the  op- 
posite party,  while  in  reality  its  heinousness  will  be 
lightly  thought  of,  if  only  it  be  coupled  with  the 
Spartan  virtues  of  dexterity  and  success. 

In  such  a  state  of  things  all  honorable  and  up- 
right freedom  of  political  opinion  and  action  in  pub^ 
lie  men  is  in  danger  of  becoming  next  to  impossible  ; 
and  the  truly  enlightened  patriot,  the  true  friend 
of  the  people — who,  because  he  is  their  true  friend, 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   87 

will  not  flatter  their  passions  and  eclio  all  their  no- 
tions, be  they  right  or  wrong — is  likely  to  be  de- 
prived of  all  scope  for  public  action.  The  demagogue 
will  carry  it  over  him  by  a  thousand  to  one.  There 
never  was  a  country  in  the  world,  from  the  days  of 
Pericles  to  the  present  time,  which  furnished  such 
unbounded  scope  for  the  demagogue  as  ours  ;  and 
never  was  a  country  so  cursed  with  demagogues. 
The  demagogue  and  the  courtier  are  but  opposite 
poles  of  the  same  character.  The  demagogue  per- 
petually tells  the  people  that  they  are  sovereign — 
that  there  is  no  higher  law  than  their  will.  Like 
the  courtier  he  flatters  and  cajoles  the  sovereign,  in 
order  to  mislead  and  rule  him.  What  chance  for  a 
fair  hearing  has  the  honest  friend  of  the  people  ?  It 
certainly  cannot  be  said  to  be  unnatural  for  men  to 
confide  in  and  yield  themselves  to  the  guidance  of 
those  who  bow  to  their  will,  flatter  their  vanity,  or  • 
minister  to  their  passions.  In  point  of  fact  what 
public  man  dares  resist  the  current  of  party  opin- 
ion, and  the  demands  of  party  discipline  ?  What 
truths  unpalatable  to  the  popular  taste,  however  vi- 
tally important  to  the  public  welfare,  do  the  politi- 
cians of  either  party  dare  to  tell  the  people  ?  What 
popular  errors,  however  dangerous,  do  they  dare 
expose   and   denounce  ?     From   the  political   and 


88  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

party  presses,  controlled  by  demagogues,  the  people 
almost  never  hear  the  truth.  Morning,  noon  and 
night,  they  are  fed  on  falsehoods  ;  and  nursed  in 
prejudices,  hatreds  and  animosities.  All  consid- 
erations of  truth,  decency  and  reverence,  give  way 
before  the  violence  of  party  spirit  ;  and  the  blind 
and  bitter  spirit  of  party  is  continually  stimulated 
by  provocatives  addressed  to  the  ignorance,  the  prej- 
udices and  violent  passions  of  the  people  ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  all  their  professed  homage,  love  and 
respect  for  the  people,  the  demagogues  show  clearly 
enough  to  the  discerning  eye  in  what  real  contempt 
they  hold  the  knowledge,  the  wisdom  and  the  virtue 
of  the  people,  by  the  boundless  impudence  of  the 
lies,  flatteries  and  quackeries  with  which  they  seek 
to  cajole  and  lead  them. 

And  which  way  tends'  the  political  destiny  of 
the  nation  under  these  influences  of  the  party 
presses  and  of  political  demagogues  ?  It  tends 
to  throw  the  absolute  power  of  the  nation  into 
whatever  party  of  demagogues,  calling  themselves 
friends  of  the  people,  can  most  successfully  cajole 
and  corrupt  the  people.  It  tends,  in  short,  to  a 
democratic  absolutism — the  worst  of  all  forms  of  ab- 
solutism, the  most  pervading  and  the  least  conscien- 
tious.    Any  party  supported  by  a  popular  majority, 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   89 

can  at  any  time  overbear  the  Constitution,  and  ab- 
sorb into  itself  all  the  powers  of  the  State. — Thus 
with  all  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  remaining, 
the  Constitution  itself  may  be  effectually  subverted. 
And  which  way  tends  this  state  of  things  ?  Is  not 
nearly  every  thing  in  the  country  now  decided  by 
party  majorities,  procured  fairly  and  legally,  if  pos- 
sible, but  procured  at  all  events  .^  And  what  is 
the  great  absorbing  party  question  ?  Every  one 
knows.  Not  a  petty  municipal  officer  in  the  ob- 
scurest village  in  the  country,  whose  election  does 
not  turn  on  the  Presidential  question.  To  what 
does  this  tend  but  to  an  absorption  of  all  the  pow- 
ers of  the  State  into  the  Executive  ?  I  do  not  say 
this  as  belonging  to  either  party.  I  go  with  neither  ; 
and  all  that  I  have  said  is  freely  applicable  by  all 
parties.  I  speak  only  of  the  direction  in  which, 
unless  we  shut  our  eyes  to  all  the  lights  of  past 
history  and  to  all  the  facts  of  present  observation, 
we  must  believe  we  are  at  this  moment  tending. 
Significant  tokens  have  already  displayed  themselves, 
which  he  who  has  eyes  to  read  them,  cannot  fail  to 
interpret.  Is  not  the  legislation  of  the  country,  at 
present  and  to  a  prodigious  extent,  originated  and 
controlled  by  Executive  influence  7  Has  not  the 
existence  of  the  Senate,  one  of  the  august  and  in- 


90  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

violable  branches  of  our  constitutional  government, 
been  openly  threatened  ?  Has  not  the  independ- 
ence, and  therefore  the  constitutional  existence,  of 
the  Judiciary  been  invaded  by  the  proposals  to 
render  its  judges  removable  at  executive  pleasure  ? 
Have  we  not  come  within  a  few  years  past  to 
hear  the  Executive  spoken  of  as  the  Government ; 
to  hear  of  the  obligations  of  office-holders  to  regard 
themselves  as  servants  of  the  Executive,  instead  of 
being  holders  of  public  trusts  for  the  Nation  ;  with 
various  other  expressions  of  the  like  kind — expres- 
sions never  dreamed  of  in  the  days  of  Washington — 
expressions  which  would  have  been  heard  with  hor- 
ror in  those  days,  but  which  are  now  such  familiar 
terms  in  our  political  vocabulary  that  we  use  them 
without  thinking  the  changes  they  imply  ? 

Now  can  any  one  fail  to  see  that  these  influences 
of  party  demagogism,  supported  upon  the  false  and 
exaggerated  notion  of  the  rightful  supremacy  of  a 
popular  majority,  tend  to  the  virtual  overthrow  of 
the  Constitution  ?  The  forms  of  the  Koman  Ee- 
public — ^its  senate,  its  tribunes,  and  its  consuls — re- 
mained  for  ages  after  all  the  powers  of  the  state 
had  passed  into  the  hands  of  an  absolute  executive 
supported  by  praetorian  guards.  This  may  never  be 
our  destiny.     But  how  much  better  off  are  we  likely 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   91 

to  be  with  an  absolute  executive  supported  by  tbe 
unconstitutional  powers  of  a  popular  majority  ? 

Many  look  for  salvation  in  a  change  of  men — 
in  the  party  tables  being  turned.  I  look  for  no 
such  thing.  The  danger  lies  not  in  any  particular 
party,  but  in  principles  held  by  all  parties,  or  at 
least  in  the  necessity  which  all  parties  will,  I  fear, 
ever  be  under  of  echoing,  and  supporting  themselves 
upon,  the  erroneous  popular  doctrine  which  now 
lies  practically  at  the  ground  of  our  system.  I 
look  for  no  permanent  political  salvation  in  a  mere . 
change  of  parties  and  men.  1  look  for  political 
salvation  only  in  a  return  of  the  people  to  true  no- 
tions of  liberty — to  sound  constitutional  political 
opinions,  to  the  spirit  of  loyalty,  of  reverence  for 
law  and  order,  and  to  public  virtue. 

It  is  not,  however,  gentlemen,  chiefly  with  ref- 
erence to  its  bearing  upon  the  integrity  of  our  Con- 
stitution, nor  with  reference  to  any  changes  which 
may  hereafter  be  wrought  in  our  mere  political  ex- 
istence, that  I  have  dwelt  upon  the  popular  notion 
respecting  the  rights  of  majorities,  and  upon  the 
spirit  and  tendencies  which  have  their  root  in  this 
prevalent  notion.  For  after  all,  in  an  abstract  view, 
it  matters  comparatively  little  what  form  of  gov- 


ya  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

eminent  we  have,  provided  it  be  well  administered^ 
and  provided  the  people  be  truly  cultivated,  wise 
and  good.  It  is  in  the  virtue,  the  moral  worth,  of 
the  people,  that  the  well-being  of  a  nation  essen- 
tially consists.  But  I  have  dwelt  upon  it,  because 
political  institutions,  government  and  laws,  are 
everywhere  the  most  powerful  of  the  causes  that 
form  the  moral  character  of  a  people  ;  because 
every  free  government  can  do  more  to  exalt  or  cor- 
rupt the  morals  of  a  nation  than  all  other  causes  ; 
and  because  I  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  the 
actual  political  influences  which  are  at  work  in  our 
country,  are  tending  to  corrupt  the  moral  spirit  of 
the  nation. 

Look  at  the  working  of  parties  among  us.  Is  it 
not  a  grand  political  game — the  possession  of  the 
powers  and  patronage  of  the  government  being  the 
stake  ;  demagogues  the  players  ;  and  the  people  the 
pawns  ?  Is  not  every  thing  decided  by  a  hot  conflict 
of  party  tactics  ?  Is  it  not  considered  and  called  a 
battle,  a  war  ;  and  by  an  easy  association  has  not 
the  old  corrupt  adage,  "  all  is  fair  in  war,''  come 
to  be  a  practical  maxim  ?  Hence  in  our  elections 
what  scenes  of  violence  ;  what  licentiousness  of  the 
party  press  ;  what  misrepresentation  of  facts  for 
political  effect ;  what  slander,  calumny  and  abuse 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   93 

heaped  in  turn  upon  every  eminent  person  in  the 
nation  !  Latterly  the  temper  of  people,  in  these 
respects,  has  passed  into  their  great  legislative 
body  ;  and  the  scenes  of  vulgar  and  indecent  vio- 
lence which  have  been  recently  enacted  in  Congress, 
are  fitter  for  a  bear  garden  than  for  the  dignified 
assemblage  of  the  representatives  of  a  great  people. 
What  must  be  the  effect  of  this,  reacting  again 
upon  the  spirit  of  the  nation  ?  Does  it  not  tend  to 
eat  out  of  the  heart  of  the  people  all  loyalty — all 
reverence  for  justice,  law  and  pubhc  order  ?  Per- 
sons may  think  lightly  of  this  ;  but  I  ask  them  to 
tell  us  how  there  can  be  a  great  heroic  people  with- 
out REVERENCE.  It  is  impossible.  And  in  order  to 
maintain  in  the  heart  of  a  people  reverence  for  Jus- 
tice, Law  and  Public  Order,  the  people  must  rever- 
ence also  the  Forms,  the  Institutions,  in  which  those 
great  Ideas  are  embodied  and  represented.  Form 
is  throughout  the  Universe  the  necessary  condition 
of  every  spiritual  manifestation.  The  moral  life  of 
a  nation  is  displayed  and  seen  and  felt  only  in  its 
forms,  just  as  the  life  of  the  vegetable  and  animal 
world  is  seen  and  felt  only  in  its  appropriate  forms. 
When  the  people  cease  to  reverence  the  institutions 
and  persons  which  embody  and  represent  the  ideas 
of  Justice,  Law  and  Public  Order,  it  is  but  a  short 


94  POSITION  AND   DUTIES 

step  to  cease  to  reverence  the  ideas  themselves. 
With  the  decay  of  reverence  for  the  forms,  dies  out 
also  the  reverence  for  the  substance.  Like  the  be- 
sotted Africans  they  may  indeed  tjontinue  to  set  up 
the  Fetisch  gods  of  their  self-will,  and  to  dash  them 
down  at  every  caprice  of  passion  ;  but  all  sense  of 
loyalty,  all  profound  feeling  of  the  allegiance  which 
they  owe  to  the  sacred  majesty  of  justice,  law  and 
order,  will  be  merged  in  a  wilful  determination  to 
have  their  own  way  at  all  events. 

Then,  again,  consider  more  directly  the  influence 
which  the  popular  feeling  that  politics  is  a  war,  and 
that  all  is  fair  in  war,  must  have  upon  the  private 
morals  of  a  nation.  How  long  will  it  be  before  that 
people  who  stick  at  nothing  in  politics  will  come 
to  stick  at  nothing  in  morals  ?  It  is  impossible 
that  political  profligacy  should  not  in  the  long  run 
lead  to  corruption  in  private  morals.  All  history 
proves  this  truth  ;  and,  gentlemen,  our  own  obser- 
vation may  suffice  to  give  us  more  than  one  token 
of  the  direction  in  which  we  are  moving.  Within 
the  last  five  or  six  years,  there  have  been  more  gov- 
ernment defaulters,  and  more  breaches  of  other  high 
pecuniaiy  pubhc  trusts — ten  times  more  in  number 
and  amount,  than  in  the  whole  former  period  of  our 
national  existence.      Will  any  one  say  that  these 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   95 

and  many  otlier  instances  of  moral  dereliction  ;  as 
well  as  the  ^cenes  of  lawless  violence  that  so  fre- 
quently occur,  and  the  comparative  apathy  with 
which  they  are  looked  upon  and  forgotten  ;  cannot 
be  traced  to  the  working  of  political  influences  ? 
To  me  it  seems  there  is  no  cause  so  obvious  ;  i)0  so- 
lution so  adequate.  Let  political  cotruption  once 
become  an  organized  element  in  the  political  action 
of  a  nation,  and  it  cannot  fail  to  corrupt  the  private 
morals  of  the  people.  I  do  not  say  that  corruption 
has  become  an  organized  element  in  the  political 
action  of  this  nation  ;  but  I  do  say  that  within  the 
last  few  years  there  have  been  developments  enough 
in  this  direction,  to  overwhelm  us  with  shame,  and 
to  become  the  ground  of  serious  apprehension  for 
the  future. 

Thus,  gentlemen,  I  have  rapidly  glanced  at  some 
aspects  of  our  country,  connected  with  its  physical 
growth,  and  with  the  working  of  its  political  institu- 
tions. It  may  perhaps  be  thought  that  the  repre- 
sentation is  overdrawn  and  falsely  colored.  I  do  not 
admit  that  it  is  so.  It  will  not  be  denied  that 
sources  of  danger  and  tendencies  to  evil  exist  in  aU 
nations.  Those  which  exist  in  our  case  are  cer- 
tainly not  those  which  result  from  poverty — desti- 


96  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

tution  of  physical  resources,  skill,  enterprise  and 
energy  ;  nor  from  political  restraint  or  oppression. 
They  are  precisely  those  to  which  a  rich  and  free 
people — an  intensely  enterprising  and  intensely 
democratic  people — are  exposed.  Besides,  it  is 
chiefly  of  principles  and  tendencies  I  have  spoken  ; 
and  as  to  what  I  have  said  respecting  the  evils 
actually  existing  among  us — the  party  press,  dema- 
gogues, unconstitutional  notions  of  popular  rights, 
political  corruption — I  maintain  that  it  falls  below 
the  truth  of  facts.  I  do  not  say  that  these  evil 
influences  will  soon  or  ever  work  the  actual  downfall 
of  the  nation  ;  but  I  do  say  that  such  is  the  inevita- 
ble result  of  their  unchecked  working.  I  do  not  say 
that  there  exist  no  checks.  I  freely  and  gladly 
admit  that  there  are  manifold  conservative  powers 
in  action  amongst  us.  But  notwithstanding  these 
better  influences,  the  dangers  to  which  we  are 
peculiarly  exposed  are  of  such  sort  and  so  great  as 
to  beget  reasonable  apprehension  ;  at  all  events 
they  show  the  immense  importance  of  specially 
cultivating  the  higher  moral  elements  of  national 
welfare,  by  which  alone  the  dangerous  tendencies  to 
undue  worldliness  and  to  political  and  social  corrup- 
tion can  be  efi'ectually  counteracted. 

It  is  in  this  connection  that  I  urge  the  duty 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   97 

wMch  rests  upon  the  educated  men  of  the  country 
of  striving  to  exalt  and  purify  the  intellectual  and 
moral  spirit  of  the  nation.  Not  that  I  would  make 
an  invidious  distinction ;  not  that  the  duty  does  not 
rest  upon  all  classes,  upon  every  true  patriot  and 
good  man.  But  it  is  a  body  of  young  scholars  whom 
I  address  :  it  is  upon  the  bodjr  of  the  educated  men 
of  the  country  that  the  duty  in  question  eminently 
rests.  Of  the  culture  of  the  nation  they  are  the 
proper  representatives,  and  the  special  guardians. 
If  they  are  indifferent  and  negligent,  what  other 
class  will  be  earnest  and  faithful  ?  What  other 
class  could  discharge  their  special  obligations  ? 

Eminently  then  upon  the  educated  class  rests 
the  obligation  of  cherishing  the  higher  intellectual 
and  moral  interests  of  the  commonwealth.  It  is  a 
duty  which  in  this  country  is  not  only  immensely 
important,  but  surrounded  with  peculiar  difficulties. 
Amidst  special  tendencies  in  the  spirit  of  the  na- 
tion to  a  predominating  worldliness,  it  is  the  voca- 
tion of  our  scholars  to  cherish  in  themselves  and 
diffuse  around  them  a  love  of  science,  of  letters,  of 
art — of  aU  that  is  liberal.  Unaided,  and  even 
counteracted,  by  the  working  of  our  political  insti- 
tutions, they  are  to  strive  to  extend  the  spirit  of 
political  virtue — ^public  spirit,  heroism,  reverence 


9S  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

for  law  and  order.  In  their  endeavors  to  exalt 
and  fortify  the  private  morals  of  the  nation,  they 
find  their  exertions  counteracted  not  only  by  the 
ordinary  temptations  which  surround  mankind,  but 
also  by  the  strongly  demoralizing  tendency  of  our 
party  politics.  Thrown  so  early,  too,  as  our  young 
scholars  are  into  the  struggles  of  professional  exer- 
tion ;  isolated  from  each  other  in  the  midst  of  the 
intense  practical  and  material  life  that  is  around 
them,  they  are  greatly  exposed  to  the  danger  of  losing 
the  love  of  good  letters,  the  liberal  and  cultivated 
tastes,  which  they  may  have  gained  ;  and  of  surren- 
dering themselves  to  the  very  influences  which  they 
should  strive  to  counteract. 

But  if  we  cannot  expect  that  the  body  of  our 
educated  men  will  go  forward  and  perfect  themselves 
in  a  high  and  refined  cultivation,  there  is  yet  one 
part  of  their  vocation  to  which  it  is  right  to  expect 
them  to  be  faithful.  This  is  to  preserve  the  spirit 
of  the  LIBERAL  callings.  The  liberal  Professions 
have  indeed  utility,  and  not  beauty,  for  their  end  ; 
and  in  this  respect  they  difier  from  the  liberal  Arts. 
But  still  they  are  liberal  professions  ;  because  they 
are,  according  to  the  idea  of  them,  free  from  the 
necessity  of  seeting  private  gain  or  advantage  as 
their  end.     They  have  utility  for  their  end  ;  but  it 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.   99 

is  the  public  utility,  and  not  the  private  advantage 
of  those  who  pursue  them.  In  other  callings,  impor- 
tant as  they  are  in  their  results  to  society,  and 
respectable  as  they  are  in  themselves,  the  end  for 
which  they  are  pursued  is  wealth  or  a  livelihood. 
This  is  in  general  the  idea  of  them,  and  the  reason 
why  they  are  followed.  On  this  ground  rests  the 
expectation  that  the  callings  of  the  merchant,  the 
banker,  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  will  be  followed  to 
any  extent  required  by  the  public  interests.  But, 
in  the  idea,  at  least,  of  the  liberal  professions, 
although  their  members  must  have  a  livelihood  in 
order  to  practise  them,  yet  they  are  not  to  practise 
them  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  livelihood.  Herein 
lies  the  ground  of  the  more  dignified  position  and 
more  respectful  estimation  which  society  has  accord- 
ed to  the  liberal  professions.  The  clergyman,  the 
physician,  the  teacher,  the  lawyer,  are  supposed  to 
engage  in  their  several  callings  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  welfare  ;  and  in  proportion  as  they  make 
their  professions  mere  means  to  private  ends — even 
their  own  livelihood,  they  degrade  their  callings,  and 
forfeit  their  title  to  public  respect. 

In  the  olden  times,  this  idea  of  the  liberal  pro- 
fessions was  more  distinctly  recognized  than  at 
present :  on  the   one  hand,  the   members  of  the 


100  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

liberal  prgfessions  were  expected  to  perform  the 
duties  of  their  callings  without  pecuniary  charge  ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  people  were  supposed 
to  he  under  obligation  to  provide  freely  for  their 
modest  yet  dignified  support  ;  and  to  hold  them  in 
honorable  estimation,  all  the  higher  for  the  worldly 
advantages  or  chances  of  advantage  they  surren- 
dered. At  the  present  day  also  we  see  the  recogni- 
•fion  of  this  idea  in  the  sentiment  of  the  incongruity 
of.  a  clergyman  being  devoted  to  mere  worldly  pur- 
suits ;  in  the  indignation  which  would  be  felt  against 
the  physician  who  should  refuse  the  gratuitous  suc- 
Ci>rs  of  his  art  to  the  sick  and  dying  poor  ;  in  the 
disgrace,  and  probable  expulsion  from  the  society 
of  his  brethren,  with  which  a  lawyer  would  be  visited 
who  for  the  guerdon  of  pecuniary  reward  should  lend 
himself  to  pervert  the  course  of  justice  and  become 
a  villain's  tool.  Yet  it  is  to  be  deeply  lamented  that 
there  is  too  little  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  liberal 
callings,  both  among  those  who  follow  them  and  in 
the  community  at  -large.  Let  it  be  cherished,  and 
kept  alive  and  quick  in  the  minds  of  our  educated 
men,  and  incredibly  great  and  salutary  will  be  its 
influence  in  exalting  and  refining  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  nation. 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  101 

Again  :  let  our  educate<l  men  shtiii* the  politi- 
cian's trade.  I  do  not  say  they  should  never ^ccept 
of  puhlic  offices  of  trust  aM  honor,  nor  that'  they- 
should  never  seek  them ;  but  they  should  never 
seek  them  for  private  ends,  and  they  should  only 
accept  them  when  they  believe  they  can  fill  them 
honorably  and  independently  for  the  public  good. 
Our  scholars  and  professional  men  should  take  a 
deep  interest  in  politics  ;  should  indeed  study  them 
profoundly  ;  but  never  should  they  become  mere 
politicians,  partisan  aspirants  for  popular  favor  and 
applause,  greedy  seekers  of  office  and  the  gains  of 
office.  They  should  aim  to  be  independent,  free- 
spoken  teachers  of  political  truth  and  political  duty. 
They  should  strive  to  make  themselves  understood 
as  a  body  of  honest  counsellors,  seeking  by  pen  and 
tongue  and  personal  influence  to  make  the  people 
truly  enlightened  on  all  political  doctrines  and 
measures  ;  to  whom  the  people  may  look  for  fair  dis- 
cussion, true  information,  and  sound  advice.  Let 
them  tell  the  people  the  truth — the  truth  which 
the  demagogues  will  never  tell  them. 

Were  it  not  that  a  wisdom  in  the  manner,  and 
a  blamelessness  of  character  almost  more  than  hu- 
man, might  seem  requisite  in  order  not  to  impair 
the   peculiar   spiritual  influence  of  their  office,  I 


102  .   POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

would  s^y  ^hat'fafe  ■scauisters  of  religion  should  be- 
come political  teaclxers  of.  the  people  from  the  pul- 
pily. I'ao  iict'^e^Ji  cL^bt  they  should  meddle  with 
party  politics,  nor  that  they  should  treat  political 
subjects — whether  general  principles  or  special 
measures — as  politicians.  Let  them  leave  that  to 
others.  But  that  it  should  be  inexpedient  (when 
done  without  impropriety  of  language  or  manner) 
for  them  to  urge  distinctly  upon  the  minds  and 
consciences  of  their  flocks  the  sense  of  Christian 
responsibility  in  the  exercise  of  their  political  rights, 
is  the  fault  of  the  people.  To  "  honor  the  king '' 
is  a  sacred  injunction  which  in  Holy  Scripture  stands 
in  immediate  connection  with  the  precept  to  "  fear 
God  ; "  that  is  to  say,  a  Christian  people  are  as 
much  bound  to  discharge  Chris tianly  their  political 
as  their  other  social  duties  ;  and  it  is  the  business 
of  the  ministers  of  religion  to  enforce  every  branch 
of  moral  duty.  I  can  conceive  that  the  clergy 
might,  with  such  simplicity  and  affectionate  spiritual 
earnestness,  so  manifestly  free  from  all  selfishness 
or  worldiness  of  tone  or  purpose,  unite  in  the  habit- 
ual practice  of  urging  the  obligations  of  Christian 
morality  in  the  exercise  of  political  rights,  as  not 
to  impair,  but  rather  to  increase  the  salutary  influ- 
ence of  their  ofiS.ce.      If  it  must  be  admitted  that 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  103 

this  can  scarcely  be  expected  in  fact — that  the  pul- 
pit must  carefully  abstain  from  coming  into  contact 
with  the  actual  beating  heart  and  life  of  the  nation  ; 
then  it  is  an  admission  which  it  seems  to  me  a  sad 
necessity  to  be  obliged  to  make.* 

Again  :  upon  the  educated  men  rests  especially 
the  duty  of  sustaining  the  cause  of  sound  popular 
education,  as  well  as  all  higher  cultivation  of  letters, 
science  and  art.  We  must  beware  of  leaving  this  great 
cause  in  the  hands  of  mere  politicians.  The  system 
of  public  instruction  indispensable  to  the  welfare  of 
every  nation,  and  eminently  of  ours,  requires  that 
moral  and  religious  culture  should  never  be  separated 
from  a  wholesome  and  wisely  adapted  intellectual 
training.  I  have  no  faith  in  the  mere  Lord  Brough- 
am "  schoolmaster."  He  may  be  ever  so  much 
"  abroad  among  the  people,"  and  yet  do  the  people 
as  much  harm  as  good.  I  have  no  faith  in  the  mere 
diffusion  of  popular  knowledge,  as  an  adequate  cul- 
ture of  the  people.  The  minds  of  the  young  should 
be  trained,  strengthened,  formed  into  right  habits, 
imbued  with  right  principles,  with  the  elements  of 
future  self-culture  and  self-guidance, — not  merely 

*  The  present  view  (1860)  on  this  point,  to  which  the  author 
has  been  led,  is  given  at  large  in  the  subsequent  piece  on  Politics 
and  the  Pulpit. 


104  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

stuffed  with  a  crude  mass  of  superficial  facts,  mis- 
called "useful  knowledge." 

Above  all  I  have  no  faith  in  the  merely  negative 
religious  character  of  popular  instruction.  I  regard 
it  as  one  of  the  most  monstrous  solecisms  that  the 
popular  education  of  a  Christian  nation  should  be 
organized — if  not  with  an  atheistic  forgetfulness 
that  there  is  a  God,  yet — with  such  a  studied  avoid- 
ance of  almost  every  thing  distinctively  Christian. 
The  political  welfare  of  this  country  can  be  secured 
by  no  diffusion  of  mere  knowledge.  Edu  cation — 
the  education  of  the  mass — ^must  be  thoroughly 
Christian.  There  is  no  country  on  the  globe  where 
the  social  virtue  and  political  prosperity  of  the  na- 
tion so  entirely  depend  upon  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  being  pervaded  by  a  deep  sense  of  the  old- 
fashioned  Christianity  which  recognizes  the  Gracious 
Influences  of  God's  most  Holy  Spirit,  conferred 
upon  the  human  race  through  Christ,  as  the  only 
source  of  goodness  in  man,  and  the  only  sure  safe- 
guard and  support  of  pure  morals  and  true  national 
well-being. 

I  have  now,  gentlemen,  given  (and  very  imper- 
fectly, I  am  sensible)  some  brief  suggestions  as  to 
the  position  and  duties  of  our  educated  class,  in 


OF  THE  EDUCATED  MEN  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  105 

relation  to  some  of  the  evils  of  our  times,  and  more 
especially  to  some  dangerous  tendencies  to  which 
we  are  exposed.  If  these  dangers  exist,  surely  we 
shall  neither  diminish  nor  avoid  them  by  shutting 
our  eyes  to  the  fact.  Nor  ought  the  full  and  frank 
statement  of  them  to  be  stigmatized  as  the  croaking 
notes  of  feeble  alarmists  despairing  of  the  republic. 
Against  all  such  reproaches  I  only  stand  up  the 
more  stoutly.  I  plant  myself  on  the  ground  estab- 
lished by  philosophy  and  by  history  ;  and  I  deny 
that  there  is  any  thing  in  the  human  nature  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  or  any  charm  in  the  frame  of 
our  government,  which  can  ensure  us  against  the 
fate  that  has  fallen  upon  other  nations.  If,  then, 
there  are  dangers  to  which  we  are  exposed,  the  true 
practical  wisdom  is,  neither  to  despise  nor  to  exag- 
gerate them  ;  but  to  see,  to  admit — and  to  guard 
against  them  ;  neither  to  rest  in  a  vain  confidence, 
nor  to  abandon  the  cause  of  our  country  as  hopeless  ; 
but  to  extend  and  quicken  all  those  influences  which 
we  know  assuredly  can  and  will  secure  the  perma- 
nent welfare  and  true  glory  of  the  nation. 

Let  us  not  shrink,  then,  from  our  position.  Let 
us  manfully  stand  up  for  the  truth.  Democratic 
institutions  have  no  intrinsic  power  to  make  us  a 
wise  and  good,  a  truly  and  permanently  happy  peo- 


106  POSITION  AND  DUTIES 

pie.  Kiclies  cannot  do  it.  Diffusion  of  knowledge 
cannot  do  it.  All  these  together  cannot  do  it  ; 
they  cannot  even  ensure  us  against  downfall  and 
ruin.  But  there  are  things  that  can  do  it.  Let 
the  influence  of  Christianity  really  and  practically 
control  the  political  as  well  as  the  social  life  of  the 
nation  ;  let  the  people  exercise  their  rights  from  a 
pure  sense  of  duty  ;  let  there  be  a  proportionable 
diffusion  of  the  spiritual  elements  of  national  wel- 
fare ;  in  a  word,  with  civilization  let  there  be 
combined  a  proportionable  cultuke  founded  upon 
Christianity  ;  and  we  shall  certainly  be  not  only  a 
rich  and  great,  but  a  wise,  a  good,  and  truly  pros- 
perous nation. 

Here  then,  in  the  promotion  of  these  great  ob- 
jects, is  the  vocation  of  all  good  citizens,  and  emi- 
nently of  the  educated  men  of  the  country.  Let 
those  who  belong  to  this  class  be  true  to  their  high 
calling,  and  by  the  favor  of  Almighty  God  we  may 
indulge  the  noblest  hopes  for  our  country  and  for  the 
great  cause  of  Human  Advancement. 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  THE  UMVERSITY,  AND  ITS 

RELATION  TO  A  COMPLETE  SYSTEM  OF 

PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 


/o 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY,  AND 
ITS  RELATION  TO  A  COMPLETE  SYSTEM 
OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 


Your  Association,  young  gentlemen,  is  that  of 
a  Brotherhood  of  Scholars  :  but  not  a  Brotherhood 
of  Scholars  united  solely  by  the  common  bond  of 
liberal  culture  and  the  love  of  good  letters,  but  also 
by  the  finer  and  tenderer  bond  of  your  common 
relationship  to  the  institution  in  which  you  received 
your  intellectual  nurture.  It  recognizes  that  as 
your  Alma  Mater — the  benignant  mother  of  j^our 
minds.  The  idea  is  a  beautiful  one  ;  and  the  senti- 
ment it  inspires  is  not  less  beautiful.  It  is  at  once 
a  filial  as  well  as  a  fraternal  sentiment  that  brings 
you  together  at  this  festival  season  of  our  Academic 
year.      You  come  here  as  brothers,  because  nurs- 


1 


110  THE  UNIVERSITY  I 

lings  of  the  same  fair  motlier.  And  though  she  is 
but  a  young  mother, — scarce  twenty  years  old, — she 
can  already  count  by  hundreds  the  children  she  has 
borne.  Year  by  year,  during  nearly  every  year  of 
her  own  existence,  she  has  dismissed  into  the  '^  wide, 
wide  world  "  a  goodly  band  of  sons  brought  forth 
and  brought  up  by  her.  Some  of  them  have  not 
been  long  away  from  her  fostering  care — the  younger 
brothers  among  you,  the  purple  light  of  youth,  the 
purpureum  lumen  juventutis,  still  fresh  upon  them  ; 
but  others  have  been  a  good  while  gone,  doing  man- 
ly work  in  the  service  of  their  country  and  of  man- 
kin(J.,  to  their  own  honor  and  their  mother's  fair 
renown.  She  is  about  to  send  forth  another  band 
of  her  children,  an  accession  to  the  ranks  of  your 
brotherhood.  This  is  the  occasion  that  brings  you 
together  now  :  and  I  hope  the  filial,  no  less  than 
the  fraternal  sentiment,  will  be  quickened  and 
deepened  by  your  reunion.  For  the  strength  of 
the  parent's  heart  is  in  the  children's  duteous  love. 
And  your  Alma  Mater  is  that  sort  of  mother  that 
may  live  forever  ;  and  however  old  in  years  she  may 
become,  and  venerable  for  age,  may  yet  flourish  in 
perpetual  youth,  the  fruitful  mother  of  new  bands 
of  sons  year  by  year  to  the  end  of  time  ;  with  a  per- 
petual improvement,  too,  in  the  intellectual  life  and 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  Ill 

development  and  nurture  which  her  children  draw 
from  her.  That  such  may  be  her  destiny  is,  I  trust, 
with  you,  an  object  of  earnest  desire  and  of  loving 
hope.  But  its  accomplishment  depends  on  cer- 
tain conditions,  and  I  know  not  from  what  quarter 
these  can  so  well  be  expected  to  be  supplied  as  from 
your  influence  and  exertions.  For  this  reason,  gen- 
tlemen, I  have  thought  fit  to  occupy  the  hour  of 
your  meeting  here  to-night  in  presenting  some  con- 
siderations on  the  state  of  Higher  Public  Instruction 
in  our  country — its  defects  and  needs,  and  the  ob- 
stacles which  stand  in  the  way  of  realizing  what 
every  lover  of  good  learning,  and  every  enlightened 
lover  of  his  country,  and  his  race  too,  must  desire 
to  see  among  us — considerations  which,  I  hope, 
may  serve  in  some  degree  to  give  incitement  and 
direction  to  your  efibrts  for  the  prosperity  and  fair 
fame  of  your  own  Alma  Mater,  and  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  interests  of  Higher  Education  through- 
out the  land. 

A  complete  and  perfect  system  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion implies  institutions  for  Primary,  Secondary, 
and  Higher  Education.  The  Common  School  is  for 
Primary  ;  the  Academy  (as  it  is  called  among  us) 
is  for  Secondary  ;  and  the  College  and  University 


112  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

for  Higher  Instruction.  The  Common  Schools 
should  exist  in  every  town  and  district  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  give  to  all  the  children  of  the  common- 
wealth, of  both  sexes,  the  rudiments  of  necessary 
learning,  the  first  elements  of  a  sound  education. 
The  Academies  are  institutions  where  all  those  of 
either  sex,  whose  condition  allows,  whose  inclination 
prompts,  or  whose  destination  in  life  demands  a 
greater  degree  of  intellectual  culture  and  a  larger 
amount  of  knowledge  than  the  Common  School  can 
give,  may  find  the  means  of  acquiring  it.  They 
should  provide  for  imparting  every  thing  included 
in  the  idea  of  what  is  familiarly  called  a  good 
thorough  English  education,  and  also"  the  Classical 
learning  necessary  to  prepare  young  men  for  college. 
With  the  Academies  I  would  also  connect  Normal 
instruction,  or  the  training  of  persons  for  the  special 
vocation  of  Teachers  in  the  Common  Schools  or 
elsewhere. 

But  of  these  institutions  I  shall  not  further 
speak.  It  is  to  the  state  of  Higher  Public  In- 
struction that  I  wish  specially  to  direct  your 
thoughts. 

And  to  put  the  subject  immediately  before  you, 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.       113 

that  you  may  see  at  once  tlie  scope  and  drift  of  my 
remarks,  I  will  say  at  the  outset,  that  we  have  in 
this  country  no  Universities,  and  we  need  them  : 
we  have  Colleges  ;  and  they  need  to  be  reformed — 
subordinated  to  the  Universities,  and  connected 
with  the  lower  institutions  in  such  a  way  as  to  form 
a  complete  and  perfect  system  of  public  Instruc- 
tion. This,  gentlemen,  is  what  I  wish  to  unfold 
and  put  in  a  clear  light.  I  shall  give  you  the  re- 
sults of  reflections  that  have,  naturally  enough, 
occupied  my  mind,  from  time  to  time,  for  many 
years  :  but  I  have  greatly  to  regret  that  broken 
health  and  the  pressure  of  many  cares  have  not 
allowed  me  time  to  put  the  expression  of  them  in 
such  form  and  method  as  I  could  desire  for  this  oc- 
casion. 

I  have  said,  gentlemen,  that  in  this  country  we 
have  no  Universities.  We  have  not.  We  have 
the  name,  but  not  the  thing.  A  University,  in  its 
proper  notion,  is  an  institution  which  affords  every 
possible  advantage  for  the  perfect  acquisition  of 
every  branch  of  science  and  learning  included  with- 
in the  circle  of  liberal  studies.  It  implies  an  assem- 
blage together  in  one  place  of  all  the  conditions  and 
means  requisite  for  pursuing  these  studies  to  the 
utmost  possible  extent.      It  implies  that  any  one 


114  THE  UNIVEBSITY  : 

competent  to  enjoy  its  advantages,  may  find  him- 
self surrounded  at  the  University  with  all  the  aids 
and  appliances  needful  or  desirable  for  carrying  out 
his  studies  to  the  highest  point  of  perfection,  in 
any  direction  throughout  the  whole  sphere  of  science 
and  letters. 

The  University,  gentlemen,  is  an  organic  whole  ; 
and  so,  like  every  other  organic  whole,  it  must  have 
its  organizing  principle,  its  determining  idea:  in 
virtue  of  which  all  the  constituent  parts  find  their 
title  to  admission,  their  place  and  their  form  ;  from 
\  which  they  grow  ;  around  which  they  group  them- 
selves, and  by  which  they  are  held  together  as  one 
perfect  whole.  What  is  this  constituent  principle, 
this  central  idea  ?  It  is  a  well  organized  body  of 
learned  and  able  men  dispensing  the  highest  instruc- 
tion in  every  branch  of  science  and  letters — not  the 
meagre  and  superficial  instruction  which  alone  can 
possibly  be  given  by  one  person  undertaking  all 
branches,  or  many  branches,  and  who  having  of 
necessity  only  a  smattering  himself,  can  of  course 
impart  no  more  than  a  smattering  to  others  ;  but 
the  profound  and  thorough  instruction  which  can 
be  given  only  by  the  members  of  a  learned  society 
numerous  enough  to  carry  the  division  of  labor  to 
the  greatest  desirable  extent ;  thus  allowing  each 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  115 

one,  and  making  it  each  one's  duty,  to  devote  his 
best  energies  to  the  cultivation  and  perfectionment 
of  his  own  department,  and  to  the  communication 
of  the  fruits  of  his  studies  in  the  clearest  and  best 
methods  of  exposition.  Out  of  this  well  organized 
division  and  connection  of  labor,  comes  that  perfec- 
tion in  every  part,  and  that  completeness  and  unity 
of  the  whole,  which  makes  the  University  what  its 
name  should  import — a  place  where  the  universe  of 
liberal  studies  is  unfolded  to  the  ingenuous  mind  in 
all  the  fulness  and  richness  of  its  infinitely  diversi- 
fied forms,  and  yet  as  one  great  harmonious  whole 
of  Truth,  Beauty  and  Goodness. 

But  there  are  also  certain  material  conditions 
included  in  the  notion  of  a  University,  because  they 
are  necessary  to  enable  the  members  of  the  learned 
society  to  discharge  their  functions.  These  are 
buildings,  lecture  rooms,  and  especially  libraries,  ap- 
paratus, laboratories,  and  collections  in  nature  and 
art — so  ample  and  complete  as  to  leave  nothing 
wanting  for  the  investigation  and  illustration  of 
every  department  of  science  and  letters,  whether  for 
the  use  of  those  who  dispense  or  those  who  receive 
instruction. 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  University  in  its  true 
idea  ;  and  I  say  again,  that  while  we  have  the  name 


116  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

among  us,  we  have  not  the  thing.  We  have  many- 
Colleges,  and  several  institutions  with  the  name  of 
Universities,  but  which  are  in  reality  only  Colleges. 
But  a  College  neither  is  a  University,  nor  can  fulfil 
the  function  of  a  University.  This  is  true,  whether 
you  look  at  the  matter  in  a  theoretical  or  a  practi- 
cal way ;  whether  you  consider  what  a  College 
ought  to  be  and  to  accomplish,  or  whether  you 
consider  what  our  Colleges,  as  they  at  present  stand, 
actually  do  or  are  able  to  accomplish.  In  a  theoreti- 
cal view,  a  College  is  an  institution  designed  to 
form  the  generally  well  educated  man  without  ref- 
erence to  any  particular  destination  in  life  ;  to  carry 
on  the  culture  and  discipline  of  the  faculties  gen- 
erally, already  begun  in  the  lower  institutions — to 
carry  it  on  to  such  an  extent,  and  also  to  impart 
such  an  amount  of  liberal  knowledge  and  accom- 
plishment, as  will  prepare  the  young  man  either  for 
a  dignified  and  useful  position  in  cultivated  social 
life,  or  for  professional  studies,  or  for  that  further, 
more  extensive  and  profound  study  of  the  liberal 
arts  and  sciences  in  any  special  direction,  for  which 
it  is  the  business  of  the  University  to  provide. 
And  so  in  theory  a  College  is  not  and  ought  not  to 
be  a  University.  In  the  next  place,  in  a  practical 
view,  our  Colleges  cannot,  if  they  would,  accomplish 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.       117 

the  proper  functions  of  a  University.  They  are 
none  of  them  adequately  provided,  and  most  of  them 
very  slenderly  provided,  with  the  material  condi- 
tions requisite  for  the  profound  and  thorough  study 
of  all  branches  of  science  and  letters — I  mean  libra- 
ries, apparatus,  collections  in  nature  and  art.  Nor 
less  deficient  in  the  personal  conditions.  In  most 
of  our  Colleges  there  is  only  the  Faculty  of  Science 
and  Letters ;  and  the  body  of  Professors  is  so  small 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  for  each  Professor  to 
give  those  extensive,  complete  and  thorough  courses 
of  instruction  which  the  idea  of  a  University  im- 
plies, in  any  one,  much  less  in  all,  of  the  subjects 
which  it  is  made  his  duty  to  teach.  This,  I  say, 
would  not  be  possible,  even  if  he  had  nothing  else 
to  do.  But  he  has  something  else  to  do.  His  time 
is  fully  employed  in  imparting  comparatively  ele- 
mentary instruction  to  immature  young  minds  but 
partially  prepared  perhaps  for  the  course  of  college 
studies.  What  advantages,  then,  do  such  institu- 
tions afford  for  carrying  out  the  study  of  the  whole 
circle  of  liberal  arts  and  sciences  to  the  utmost  pos- 
sible limit  ?  None  at  all.  In  some  of  our  Colleges 
there  are  Faculties  of  Medicine,  Law  and  Theology. 
But  this  does  not  make  them  Universities.  For  the 
courses  of  instruction  are  organized  in  respect  of 


118  THE  UNIVERSITY  *. 

extent,  time,  division  and  other  particulars,  to  meet 
the  special  and  practical  demands  of  professional 
preparation,  rather  than  as  parts  of  a  University- 
system  :  and  even  if  this  were  not  the  case,  what 
has  been  shown  in  regard  to  the  Faculties  of  Science 
and  Letters  would  still  hold.  And  so  it  is  obvious 
that  our  Colleges  do  not  and  cannot  accomplish  the 
functions  of  a  University. 

That  Universities  are  a  need  for  this  country,  is 
a  point,  gentlemen,  which  I  should  feel  ashamed  to 
think  it  necessary  to  argue  before  you.  We  do  not 
need  a  great  many  of  them  :  but  a  certain  number — 
amply  supplied  with  all  the  material  and  personal 
conditions  for  realizing  the  true  and  noble  idea  of  such 
institutions — we  do  need.  Who  can  doubt  they  would 
have  an  influence  that  can  be  brought  into  action  in  no 
other  way,  in  advancing  the  great  interests  of  science 
and  good  letters — interests  with  which,  I  need  not 
tell  you,  gentlemen,  not  only  the  intellectual  and 
moral  well-being,  but  even  the  material  prosperity  of 
the  nation,  are  indissolubly  bound  up  ?  They  would. 
Such  institutions  would  be  a  glory  and  a  blessing  to 
the  land. 

Supposing,  then,  Universities  to  be  established, 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  119 

what  shall  be  done  with  the  Colleges  ?  Let  them 
exist :  let  them,  if  need  be,  be  multiplied.  For  the 
College  holds  an  indispensable  and  most  important 
place  in  a  perfect  system  of  Public  Instruction. 
It  is  the  place  for  the  liberal  education  of  those  who 
do  not  go  to  the  University,  and  by  means  of  the 
liberal  education  it  imparts,  it  also  prepares  for  the 
University  those  who  wish  to  advance  to  the  highest 
degrees  of  learning  and  science.  No  student  should 
come  to  the  University  who  is  not  prepared  to 
profit  by  its  advantages  :  and  no  one  is  prepared 
who  has  not  already  acquired  the  amount  of  mental 
discipline  and  of  liberal  knowledge  which  form  the 
well-educated  man.  This  it  is  the  proper  function 
of  the  CoUege  to  impart.  The  CoUege  does  not 
and  cannot  form  men  of  profound  science  and  learn- 
ing in  every  department  of  liberal  studies.  It  does 
not  make  masters  and  doctors,  competent  to  fill  the 
Academic  chairs  of  Universities  or  of  Colleges,  or 
to  be  in  any  sphere  the  great  teachers  of  the  world. 
This  is  not  its  function.  It  is  the  function  of  the 
University  to  do  this.  And  on  the  othec  hand,  it 
is  not  the  special  function  of  the  University  to  form 
the  liberally  educated  young  man — it  takes  him  al- 
ready formed.  The  University  is  not  the  place 
to  train  and  prepare  the  young  man  to  think  and 


120  THE  UNIVEKSITY  : 

to  study  for  himself :  but  to  take  tlie  young  man  al- 
ready prepared  to  think  and  to  study  ;  and  then  to 
help  him  in  thinking  and  studying  for  himself, 
and  to  carry  him  forward,  by  instructions  more  ex- 
tended, profound  and  diversified  than  the  College 
can  give,  to  the  greatest  possible  perfectness  of 
knowledge,  whether  in  science  or  in  learning.  And 
the  proper  place,  in  a  perfect  system  of  Public  In- 
struction, for  the  young  man  to  gain  the  knowledge 
and  the  power  to  think  and  study  which  fit  him  for 
the  University,  is  the  College.  In  this  view,  and 
for  those  who  go  to  the  University,  the  College  is 
subordinate  to  the  University.  But  the  CoUege,  in 
its  proper  function,  is  not  limited  to  preparing 
young  men  for  the  University.  It  is  also  to  form 
well-educated  men  who  do  not  go  to  the  University. 
We  need  a  certain  number  of  profoundly  learned 
men  in  every  department  of  science  and  letters  : 
eminent  Masters  and  Doctors,  great  luminaries  in 
the  intellectual  sphere.  These  the  University  is  to 
make — that  is  to  say,  supply  the  best  means,  and 
all  the  means,  for  enabling  them  to  make  themselves. 
But  we  also  need  an  immensely  greater  number  of 
well-educated  young  men  :  men  whose  minds  have 
been  trained  by  a  course  of  liberal  studies  sufficient- 
ly diversified,  and  carried  to  a  sufficient  extent,  to 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  121 

ensure  a  vigorous  and  well-proportioned  develop- 
ment of  their  faculties.  These  the  College  makes, 
or,  as  before,  gives  them  the  best  help  to  making 
themselves  ;  and  so  does  a  work  which  the  Univer- 
sity cannot  do  ; — I  will  not  say  a  more  or  a  less  im- 
portant work  than  that  which  the  University  does  ; 
for  it  is  idle  and  foolish  to  draw  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  importance  of  two  things,  both  of  which 
are  indispensable  to  the  Commonwealth. 

Let  there  be  Colleges,  then  ;  and  let  them  be 
sufficiently  numerous  to  afford  a  place  for  all  who 
seek  a  liberal  education.  But  let  them  be  reformed. 
Let  them  be  made  what  they  ought  to  be.  Let 
them  be  conformed  to  their  proper  idea.  Let  them 
not  attempt  the  functions  of  a  University  ;  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  they  cannot  and  ought  not  to  fulfil 
them.  Let  them  be  places  to  give  a  really  "  liberal 
education  "  in  the  fine  old  scholarly  meaning  of  the 
term.  Let  the  course  of  studies  be  "  liberal"  studies. 
Let  not  the  object  be  the  acquisition  of  special 
knowledge  for  this  or  that  particular  destination  in 
life.  Let  such  special  acquisitions  come  afterwards 
as  any  one  may  choose.  Let  the  College  course  of  / 
undergraduate  studies  be  mainly  a  discipline  for  • 
the  mind.      Let  it  afford  scope  and  means  for  the 


6 


122  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

freest,  fullest  and  most  liarmonious  development  and 
culture  of  all  the  mental  faculties,  without  refer- 
ence to  any  particular  destination  in  life  ;  and  for 
those  acquisitions  of  knowledge  and  accomplish- 
ments of  taste  which  form  the  true  liberally  educat 
ed  man.  And  for  this  end,  there  is  no  conceivable 
organization  of  studies  so  well  adapted  as  the  good 
old-fashioned  curriculum  of  classical,  mathematical, 
logical,  rhetorical  and  aesthetical  studies.  These 
studies,  properly  proportioned  and  thoroughly  pur- 
sued, involve  and  secure  the  very  best  possible 
training  of  the  mind. 

And  this  brings  me  to  notice  one  of  the  great 
defects  of  our  College  system.  Both  too  much  and 
too  little  is  done  :  and  the  consequence  is  that  al- 
most nothing  is  done  as  it  should  be.  The  four  years 
of  undergraduate  study  is  short  time  enough,  in 
all  reason,  for  accomplishing  to  any  really  good  pur- 
pose the  course  I  have  mentioned, — even  if  the  stu- 
dent comes  from  the  Academy  or  Grammar  School 
with  a  thorough  preparation  in  elementary  classical 
and  mathematical  learning,  and  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  culture  and  discipline  of  mind.  And  yet, 
into  this  four  years,  we  have  now  crowded  a  multi- 
tude of  additional  studies — making  a  list  almost  as 
large   and  wonderful    as  that  which  lively    young 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  123 

ladies  accomplisli  in  the  fashionable  schools,  where 
all  languages  and  learning,  all  sciences  and  arts  are 
learned  in  three  years,  and  all  the  accomplishments 
besides  !  And  while  thus  crowding  the  course,  we 
have  at  the  same  time,  on  the  other  hand,  instead 
of  raising  the  terms  of  admission,  in  practice  often 
lowered  them  to  almost  nothing.  What  is  the  con- 
sequence .?  Multitudes  of  young  persons  enter  our 
Colleges  without  sufficient  preparation,  and  some  of 
them  too  young  to  be  able  to  get  it.  They  are  unfit 
to  go  with  profit  through  the  course  of  classical  and 
mathematical  learning,  even  if  it  were  not  com- 
pressed and  hurried  through  with,  in  order  to  make 
some  time  for  the  modem  additional  courses,  which, 
in  their  turn,  of  necessity  often  are  compressed  into 
mere  meagre  and  fruitless  compends.  Some,  the 
older,  or  more  earnest  and  diligent  students,  make 
the  best  of  it — work  nobly,  gain  something,  which 
enables  them  to  educate  themselves  after  they  leave 
College  :  but  the  younger  or  more  indolent  drag 
heavily  through  the  four  years, — and  leave  College 
with  "  small  Latin,  less  Greek,"  and  no  living  insight 
into  the  principles  of  Science ;  with  diplomas  in 
their  hands  which  they  could  not,  some  of  them,  for 
their  lives,  bear  a  creditable  examination  upon. 
Such  is  a  strong  picture  (but  I  am  sad  to  say,  and 


124  THE  UNIVERSITY  I 

sure  as  sad,  it  is  not  an  untrue  one)  of  the  wretched 
consequences  that  have  come  from  attempting  too 
much,  and  doing  nothing  thoroughly.  And  the 
remedy  lies  in  a  return  to  the  proper  idea  and  prop- 
er work  of  the  College  ;  in  discarding  from  the  Col- 
lege curriculum  those  courses  which  properly  be- 
long to  the  University  or  to  the  professional  and 
practical  schools  ;  and  in  establisliing  and  adhering 
inexorably  to  a  far,  far  higher  standard  of  prepara- 
tion for  admission  ;  in  maldng  a  thorough  mastery 
of  the  old  liberal  course  a  possibility  and  a  reality, 
and  so  inspiring  that  true  love  for  good  learning 
which  thorough  learning  always  does  inspire,  and 
imparting  that  high  discipline  and  fine  culture 
which  will  be  through  life  a  source  of  pleasure  and 
a  source  of  power. 

Understand  me,  gentlemen,  on  one  point.  I 
have  no  objection  to  all  sorts  of  courses  of  practical 
instructions  (as  they  are  called)  in  the  modern  lan- 
guages, in  physics,  in  the  applications  of  science  to 
the  useful  arts — ^in  short,  every  thing  which  the  spirit 
of  the  age  and  the  wants  of  the  times  are  said  to 
demand  ;  I  have  no  sort  of  objection  to  their  being 
connected  with  our  Colleges — provided  two  things  : 
first,  that  such  practical  courses  be,  in  their  nature, 
either  literary  or  scientific  ;   and  second,  that  they 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  125 

be  not  crowded  into  the  four  years  undergraduate 
course,  but  come  after  it,  or  one  side  of  it.  As  to 
the  first  condition,  there  must  be  some  limit  :  and 
if  this  be  not  the  principle  of  limitation,  you  cannot 
have  a  limit  unless  an  arbitrary  one.  There  are 
various  vocations  in  practical  life  which  not  only 
proceed  upon  scientific  principles,  but  which  also 
imply  and  demand  a  scientific  knowledge  of  those 
principles  on  the  part  of  those  who  follow  them  : 
such  as  Civil  Engineering,  Navigation,  and  the  like. 
And  to  such  studies  you  must  limit  these  practical 
courses  in  our  Colleges,  else  you  must  also  have 
College  lectures  on  the  science  of  soap-making  and 
calico  printing,  and  every  other  useful  art.  Within 
this  limit,  such  practical  courses  may  well  be  ad- 
mitted into  our  Colleges,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
cannot  go  to  the  University  to  study  the  sciences 
and  their  applications  from  a  purely  scientific  inter- 
est, and  in  the  connection  and  extent  in  which  they 
enter  into  the  University  system.  But  I  insist  on 
the  other  condition — that  they  be  not  crowded  into 
the  proper  undergraduate  course  ;  for  that  would 
be  a  detriment  to  both.  The  proper  College  course, 
the  simply  Academic  course,  is  needful  for  the  pure 
interests  of  science  and  good  letters,  needful  to 
make  scholars  with  the  spirit  of  scholars,  prepared 


126  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

for  the  University,  and  for  social  and  public  life ; 
and  nothing  should  be  crowded  into  it  to  impair  its 
proper  function. 

There  is  another  point  in  which  I  would  alter 
the  practice  of  our  Colleges.    It  is  in  the  matter  of 
degrees.    I  have  said  that  the  College  does  not  and 
cannot  form  men  of  profound  science  and  learning 
in  every  department  of  liberal  studies.     It  is  not 
the  province  of  the  College  to  make  Masters  and 
Doctors,  competent  to  fill  the  Academic  chairs  of 
Universities  and  of  Colleges,  or  to  be  in  any  sphere 
of  science  and  learning  the  great  teachers  of  the 
world.     That  is  the  province  of  the  University — so 
far,  that  is,  as  it  depends  on  any  institution  to  do 
it.    Our  Colleges  now  confer  the  title  of  Master  and 
Doctor.     But  they  cannot  form  the  thing.      The 
thing  itself,  the  true  Master,  the  true  Doctor,  the 
competent  man  to  fill  Academic  chairs,  or  in  any 
way  to  set  up  to  instruct  his  fellow-men  with  any 
title  to  their  deference  as  having  something  of  just 
authority  to  teach — this,  I  say,  the  thing  itself,  of 
Master  and  Doctor,  if  it  gets  made  at  all  in  our 
country,  is  not  made  by  the  Colleges  :  it  is  self-made 
after  the  College  has  been  gone  through  with  and 
left  behind.     The  very  practice  of  our  Colleges  in 
conferring  these  degrees  is  an  admission  of  this  fact. 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  127 

They  are  mostly  not  given  in  course,  but  as  honor- 
ary recognitions  that  men  have  made  themselves 
what  the  College  did  not  make  them.  This  would 
be  all  very  well,  so  long  as  we  have  no  true  Univer- 
sity, provided  these  titular  distinctions  were  confer- 
red only  where  they  are  thoroughly  deserved.  But 
as  it  is,  there  is  something  laughable,  and  at  the 
same  time  sadly  degrading  to  high  letters,  in  the 
way  in  which  these  honors  are  scattered  broadcast 
over  the  land — and  some  of  them  without  any  regard 
to  their  special  significance  : — the  title  of  Doctor 
of  Laws,  for  instance,  lighting  on  the  surprised  head 
of  some  eminent  political,  literary,  or  other  distin- 
guished personage  who  perhaps  never  in  his  life 
opened  a  book  on  the  Canon  or  the  Civil  law ;  who 
knows  not,  it  may  be,  the  distinction  between  them. 
He  is  made  Doctor  of  Laws,  because,  being  a  lay- 
man, it  would  hardly  do  to  make  him  a  Doctor  of 
Theology,  or  being  a  clergyman,  the  doctorate  of 
Divinity  is  not  thought  quite  sufficient  for  his  years, 
his  popular  eminence,  or  the  worldly  importance  of 
his  parish. 

But  let  true  Universities  be  established  :  and  then 
let  the  Colleges  be  restricted  from  conferring  any 
other  degree  than  the  Baccalaureate.  Let  all  the 
others  be  University  degrees.     And  let  them  all, 


128  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

both  in  the  College  and  in  the  University,  be  con- 
ferred only  when  fairly  earned  ;  not  as  a  matter  of 
course  after  a  certain  attendance  on  the  lecture 
room,  as  is  too  much  the  case  now  ;  but  only  after 
a  thorough  and  rigorous  examination  sustained  in 
the  special  Faculty,  be  it  Arts,  Theology,  Medicine, 
or  Law,  in  which  the  degree  is  taken.  Let  the  de- 
grees be  taken,  or  in  the  old  Academic  language 
be  "proceeded  to,"  not  given  as  mere  titles.  Let 
any  man  take  them  all,  if  he  will  study  for  them 
and  earn  them  :  but  let  no  man  have  any  of  them 
upon  any  other  condition.  Let  this  be  the  rule — 
there  may  be  occasions  for  special  exceptions — but 
but  let  this  be  the  rule  :  and  then  the  title  would 
be  something  more  than  an  empty  name.  It  would 
be  a  guarantee  for  the  presence  of  the  thing.  It 
would  have  some  weight,  some  authority.  It  would 
be  a  real  honor,  to  be  sought  for  and  won  and  worn 
with  honest  pride,  to  the  great  benefit  of  all  the  in- 
terests of  truth  and  good  letters. 

Before  dismissing  the  topic  of  the  proper  idea  of 
the  University,  I  will  take  occasion  here  to  say  a 
word  as  to  a  Theological  Faculty.  The  great  num- 
ber of  distinct  religious  denominations  that  exist  in 
our  country,  and  the  importance  which  each  one 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  129 

naturally  and  justly  attaches  to  the  theological  sys- 
tem by  which  it  is  distinguished,  renders  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  University  Faculty  of  Theology  a 
matter  of  great  practical  difficulty.  To  avoid  this 
difficulty,  the  organization  of  a  Theological  Faculty 
was  expressly  excluded  from  the  plan  of  the  IN'ew- 
York  University.  My  learned  and  accomplished 
friend  and  predecessor,  in  his  recent  excellent 
tract  on  University  education,  proposes  to  avoid  the 
difficulty  in  the  same  way.*  But  I  cannot  agree 
with  him.  A  Faculty  of  Theology  is  as  indispen- 
sable as  any  other  Faculty  to  the  idea  of  a  com- 
plete University.  The  Science  of  Theology — to 
say  nothing  of  its  importance  in  its  higher  relig- 
ious and  practical  aspects — is,  in  the  philosophical 
principles  which  underlie  it,  in  its  history,  in  its 
literature,  in  its  relations  with  the  civilization  and 


*  University  Edxication^  by  H.  P.  Tappan.  At  the  time  this 
discourse  was  delivered,  Professor  Tappan  was  elected  to  the  Chair 
which  my  broken  health  compelled  me  to  resign  ;  and  it  was  to  me 
a  matter  of  great  joy  that  my  place  would  be  filled  by  one  so 
eminently  qualified  to  do  honor  to  the  institution,  and  to  promote 
all  the  interests  of  true  learning  and  science.  He  has  since  then 
accepted  the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 
May  all  success  attend  him.  I  may  mention  here  that  I  learn  from 
him  that  he  has  changed  the  opinion  expressed  in  his  tract,  to  which 
reference  is  made  above,  and  has,  ou  further  reflection,  come  to  the 
same  view  as  that  I  have  taken. 


130  •  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

social  culture  of  mankind,  one  of  the  most  profound 
and  profoundly  interesting  departments  of  human 
thought  and  knowledge.  A  University,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  term,  without  a  Faculty  of  The- 
ology, is  a  thing  that  cannot  be  created.  And 
rather  than  avoid  the  practical  difficulty  by  mutilat- 
ing the  true  idea,  I  would  attempt  to  realize  the 
idea  in  the  most  comprehensive  way  : — by  organiz- 
ing the  Theological  Faculty  in  sections  sufficiently 
numerous  to  meet  all  reasonable  desire  of  the  differ- 
ent religious  denominations,  so  that  the  Faculty  of 
Theology  would  in  fact  consist  of  several  distinct 
Faculties,  each  substantially  complete — allowing, 
if  you  please,  each  communion  to  have  its  special 
system  represented  in  the  University  by  a  body  of 
Professors  of  Theology,  supported  by  its  own  endow- 
ment and  appointed  on  its  own  nomination,  subject 
to  such  limitations  and  common  regulations  as  the 
University  organization  would  make  requisite.  Stu- 
dents might  then  attend  the  lectures  of  either  of  the 
sections,  or  of  several,  or  of  all,  according  to  their 
choice — degrees  in  Theology,  however,  depending 
only  on  passing  the  proper  examinations  in  the 
complete  course  of  some  one  section  of  the  Faculty, 
whichever  they  should  elect.  In  this  way  all  objec- 
tions on  the  score  of  the   University  favoring  one 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  131 

religious  system  at  the  expense  of  the  rest,  would 
be  avoided  ;  while  the  widest  and  freest  scope  would 
be  given  to  the  pursuit  of  Theological  Science  :  and 
surely  that  man  must  have  small  confidence  in  his 
own  creed  who  imagines  the  cause  of  truth  would 
in  any  way  suffer  in  the  long  run  by  such  an  organ- 
ization. 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  my  view  of  the  needs  of 
Higher  Instruction  among  us  :  the  University 
created  ;  the  Colleges  reformed.  Let  this  be  done 
in  the  way  I  have  sketched  ;  and  then  with  the 
Common  Schools  and  Academies,  we  shall  have, 
and  not  till  then  shall  we  have,  a  complete  system 
of  Public  Instruction. 

Now,  gentlemen,  to  create  and  sustain  such  a 
system,  we  must,  I  think,  look  to  the  State.  I 
know  this  suggestion  will  strike  you  as  burdened 
with  great  difficulties — immense  obstacles  in  getting 
the  State  to  undertake  the  matter,  and  immense 
liabilities,  if  she  should  undertake  it,  that  the  true 
and  noble  idea,  especially  of  the  Higher  Institu- 
tions, will  be  violated,  impaired,  or  imperfectly 
realized,  not  only  from  incompetent  legislation  in 
the  organization  of  the  system,  but  from  the  peiTii- 


^      132  THE  UNIVERSITY  *. 

cious  influence  of  party  politics  in  its  administra- 
tion. In  view  of  these  liabilities  of  mischief,  I 
should  vastly  prefer  that  the  University  should  be 
entirely  independent  of  the  State  ;  that  it  should 
be  established  by  the  union  of  private  individuals 
enlightened  enough  to  conceive  the  true  idea  ;  rich 
enough  and  liberal  enough  to  provide  the  requisite 
material  endowments  ;  and  wise  enough  to  leave  the 
whole  organization  and  administration  in  the  hands 
of  competent  men  versed  in  academic  affairs,  whose 
special  profession  and  vocation  it  is  to  understand 
such  matters. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  must  say  that  I  think  there 
is  less  to  hope  for  in  looking  in  this  direction  than 
to  the  State.  And  so  to  the  State,  it  seems  to  me 
we  must  look,  if  anywhere.  Besides,  in  a  theoret- 
ical view,  the  State  is  the  proper  power  to  do  this 
work — ^under  the  obligation  of  doing  it  rightly  and 
well.  It  is  the  obligation  of  the  State  to  provide  a 
complete  and  perfect  system  of  Public  Instruction. 
The  obligation  is  already  partially  recognized  in 
the  practice  of  this  Commonwealth,  as  well  as  of 
many  other  States  in  the  Union.  Besides,  the 
State  is  the  only  power  able,  in  some  respects,  to 
do  the  work  as  it  should  be  done.  To  create  the 
Vn      University  ;  to  perfect  the  Colleges  ;  and  to  organize 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  133 

them  in  connection  with  the  primary  and  secondary 
institutions  into  one  great  whole,  such  as  the  needs 
of  the  Commonwealth  demand,  such  as  the  idea  of 
a  complete  system  of  Public  Instruction  implies, 
is  a  PUBLIC  work,  and  can  be  well  done  only  by  the 
public  power. 

These  institutions,  moreover,  should  be  free. 
No  charge  for  instruction  should  be  made  in  any  of 
them- — no  more  in  the  University  and  in  the  College, 
than  in  the  Common  School.  This  is  implied  in 
the  very  idea  of  Public  Instruction.  To  effect  this, 
immense  appropriations  of  money  are  needed.  This 
is  another  point  that  must  not  be  omitted  in  our 
view  of  the  case.  To  create  a  great  and  true  Uni- 
versity in  this  Commonwealth ;  to  perfect  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Colleges  and  Academies  ;  to  increase 
their  number,  if  need  be  ;  and  to  give  free  instruc- 
tion in  them  all,  would  require  millions  of  ex- 
penditure. To  establish  in  this  City  a  great  Uni- 
versity, such  as  ought  to  be  established,  requires  a 
provision  for  the  proper  dignified  support  of  at  least 
fifty  or  sixty  Professors.  There  are  nearly  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  They 
must  be  supplied  too  with  all  the  material  condi- 
tions for  their  work  : — ^buildings,  libraries,  appa- 
ratus, museums,  and  galleries  of  art,  and  the  like. 


134  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

I  cannot  put  down  the  expenditure  necessary  to 
effect  this  at  less  than  five  millions.  And  several 
millions  more  would  be  required  to  perfect  and 
complete  the  organization  of  the  Colleges.  •  In  short, 
a  complete  system  of  Public  Instruction  requires 
an  expenditure  that  can  only  be  made  by  the 
State. 

But  the  State  can  do  it.  Eminently  of  the 
Public  Will  is  it  true  that  "  where  there  is  a  Will 
there  is  a  Way."  Let  only  the  people  of  this  State 
feel  the  importance  of  it  to  the  glory  and  welfare 
of  the  Commonwealth,  and  what  are  ten  millions  ? 
what  are  twenty  millions  ?  A  tax  so  trifling  as  to 
press  with  scarcely  a  feather's  weight  on  any  one, 
would  enable  the  State  to  command  the  amount, 
and  in  ten  years  repay  it  both  principal  and  inter- 
est. Five  millions  to  found  a  University  in  this 
City  !  It  sounds  large  :  but  in  less  than  twice 
five  years  it  might  be  saved  from  the  needless 
and  profligate  expenditure  of  this  most  misgoverned 
town. 

The  thing  can  be  done  if  only  the  people  wiU 
it.  To  lead  them  to  will  it  is  the  great  point.  They 
have  willed  great  public  works  of  material  utility 
for  the  public  health  and  convenience,  and  for  the 
increase  of  the  public  wealth.     They  need  be  made 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  135 

see  that  there  are  spiritual  utilities  more  important 
still  to  the  best  life  and  welfare  of  the  Common- 
wealth. They  need  be  made  see  that  a  great  and 
perfect  system  of  Public  Instruction,  though  it  do 
not  reimburse  its  cost  in  the  visible  and  tangible 
revenue  of  dollars,  is  a  higher  public  interest  than 
Croton  Water  Works  and  Erie  Canals,  which  do  ; 
that  if  it  be  a  wise  and  politic  thing  in  the  public 
to  create  the  one,  it  is  even  more  so  to  create  the 
other — and  far  more  noble  and  honorable  and  fitting 
to  the  glory  of  a  magnanimous  Commonwealth. 

To  stir  up  the  public  mind  in  this  matter, 
belongs  eminently  to  the  educated  young  men  of 
the  State.  And  you,  gentlemen,  if  you  enter  at  all 
into  the  greatness  and  nobleness  of  the  idea  ;  if  you 
appreciate  its  paramount  importance  to  the  interests 
of  Science  and  Good  Letters,  to  all  the  moral  and 
all  the  material  interests  of  the  Commonwealth  ; 
you  will  not  be  deterred  by  the  difficulties  that  lie 
in  the  way  from  exerting  the  great  influence  which 
your  liberal  culture  puts  it  in  your  power  to  wield, 
in  forming  the  mind  and  guiding  the  will  of  the 
people  of  this  great  and  rich  State  in  a  right  direc- 
tion on  this  point.  This  is  the  practical  purpose  I 
have  in  view  in  this  discourse.  This  is  the  great 
mission  which  I  conclude  my  Academic  life  by  in- 


136  THE  UNIVERSITY  I 

voMng  you  to  undertake,  and  as  far  as  in  you  lies, 
to  accomplish. 

You  will  liave  great  obstacles  to  overcoine.  I 
admit  it.  With  a  vast  multitude  of  the  mass  of 
the  people,  there  are  probably  not  so  much  false 
views  and  positive  hostilities  to  contend  with,  as 
the  absence  of  all  views,  and  all  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  any  system  of  higher  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

But  the  greatest  and  worst  obstacles  lie  in  the 
prevalence  of  false  views  and  strong  prejudices  of 
various  sorts  among  other  classes.  Of  these  let  me 
sketch  a  few  types 

There  is  McCheese,  the  great  provision  dealer. 
He  started  in  life  scarcely  more  than  able  to  write 
his  name.  He  has  made  money.  He  is  rapidly 
rolling  up  his  plum.  He  turns  up  his  nose  in  greasy 
contempt  at  the  idea  of  taking  his  money  to  make 
learned  men.  What  is  the  use  of  learning  ?  He 
has  got  on  without  it.  He  is  opposed — not  from 
any  hatred  of  it  as  something  of  superior  value  which 
he  does  not  possess.  For  he  knows  of  nothing  of 
superior  value  to  money.     It  has  never  entered  his 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  137 

head  fhat  anybody  else  should  be  so  foolish  as  to 
dream  there  was.  It  is  simply  a  useless  whim  : 
and  he  is  opposed  to  having  his  money  taken  for 
what  is  useless.  All  his  brethren  will  equally  op- 
pose you  for  the  same  reason. 

Then  there  is  Gubbins,  ex-Auctioneer,  long 
enough  retired  upon  his  fortune  to  have,  in  the 
intervals  of  turtle  and  champagne,  looked  around 
him  and  found  out  that  there  are  in  society  some 
men,  particularly  men  of  learning  and  science,  who 
affect  to  think  there  are  other  things  in  the  world 
entitled  to  deference  besides  the  mere  possessor  of 
money.  He  has,  perhaps,  a  dim  suspicion  they 
may  be  right.  But,  at  all  events,  with  the  instinct 
of  a  proud  but  ignoble  nature,  he  hates  what  he 
tries  to  despise.  He  will  oppose  any  thing  that 
puts  his  title  to  supreme  deference  in  question.  So 
will  his  brethren. 

There  is,  again,  Fitzroy  Cunningham,  Esq., 
shrewd,  clear-headed,  clever  ;  with  immense  activity 
and  versatility  of  mind,  he  has  all  his  life  been  en- 
gaged in  extensive  and  complicated  transactions 
of  trade  and  commerce — has  amassed  a  more  than 
princely  wealth,  which   is  still   growing  to  greater 


138  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

and  greater  expansion.  With  but  a  slender  educa- 
tion, though  perhaps  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighteen 
he  took  a  college  degree  before  he  went  into  his 
father's  counting  house^  yet  he  has,  since  then, 
made  himself  variously  intelligent,  acquired  a  vast 
amount  of  information  of  facts,  events,  men  and 
things  that  have  fallen  under  his  observation  in 
life — the  kind  of  knowledge  therefore  he  naturally 
holds  in  most  respect.  He  lives  in  a  splendid 
palace  up  town  ;  his  wife  drives  out  in  a  gorgeous 
equipage,  and  gives  brilliant  entertainments.  But 
Fitzroy  still  keeps  in  his  busy  sphere,  because  he 
loves  it  and  is  proud  of  it,  not  merely  for  its  wealth 
and  the  social  consequence  it  brings,  but  for  the 
various  energies  and  keen  activities  it  demands. 
He  has  little  respect  for  learning  and  science  in 
themselves.  He  has  a  certain  respect  for  great  law- 
yers, great  politicians,  and  eminent  public  function- 
aries. But  both  he  and  they  were  made  at  the 
colleges  (such  as  they  are)  in  the  slight  degree  in 
which  they  owe  any  thing  to  the  college.  Such 
institutions  he  is  willing  to  "  patronize  " — perhaps 
be  a  trustee,  if  it  gratifies  his  egotism  :  in  which 
position  he  will  regard  the  Faculty  as  in  some  sort 
in  his  employment,  much  on  the  footing  of  his 
upper  clerks,  (hardly  that,)  whom  it  is  his  office  to 


TS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  139 

tell  how  to  do  their  work,  (landsmen  teaching  pi- 
lots how  to  steer,)  and  to  get  the  maximum  of  work 
at  the  minimum  of  salary.  But  as  to  creating  a 
great  University,  a  great  Society  of  Learned  Men, 
with  an  ample  public  provision  for  their  independ- 
ent and  dignified  support — a  society  to  which  he  is 
to  look  up  with  deference,  as  the  great  ornament 
and  glory  of  the  city,  a  great  light  and  benefaction 
to  the  nation — ^he  has  no  idea  of  it.  It  is  a  project 
for  making  a  great  nest  of  dreamers  and  drones, 
entirely  out  of  place  amidst  the  splendid  material 
and  practical  activities  of  the  age.  Be  sure  you 
cannot  count  on  his  help.  He  will  not  oppose  you 
with  the  vulgar  hatred  of  Gubbins  ;  but  he  will 
dismiss  you  with  a  serene,  contemptuous  disregard 
of  your  plan.     So  will  his  brethren. 

There  is,  besides,  Quintus  Queerleigh,  able  editor 
of  the  Daily  Trumpet — politician,  philanthropist, 
social  reformer,  believer  in  social  progress,  in  divin- 
ity of  the  people,  (except  those  who  differ  from 
him,)  believer  in  every  thing  more  than  in  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Past.  Clever  man.  Eeally  able.  Of 
manifold  abilities.  Can  write.  Can  think,  too. 
Says  many  wise  and  good  things.  Honest  perhaps. 
So  some  think  him.  Great  believer  in  himself,  no 
doubt  ;    perhaps  an  honest  believer  in  truth — that 


140  -  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

whicTi  he  thinks  such.  But  not  a  learned  man.  A 
self-made  man  :  with  the  one-sidedness  that  often 
belongs  to  such  men.  He  has  already  in  advance 
opposed  YOU.  He  bloweth  with  his  Trumpet  to  the 
people,  to  warn  them  against  you.  He  telleth  them 
that  Common  Schools  are  for  the  people  :  Colleges 
and  Universities  are  only  to  pamper  the  pride  of 
the  rich,  the  grinders  of  the  faces  of  the  people. 
He  bloweth  with  his  Trumpet  against  the  legislators 
— warning  them  of  the  wrath  of  the  people,  if  they 
take  the  people's  money  to  build  up  or  sustain 
aristocratic  institutions,  contrary  to  the  Gospel  of 
Progress  which  the  Trumpet  proclaimeth  :  "Peace 
on  earth  ;  and  every  man's  coat  cut  the  same  length 
with  his  neighbor's."  "  Useless  institutions,  too," 
saith  Queerleigh.  "  Look  at  me.  Am  not  I  an 
able  editor,  politician,  social  reformer,  writer,  think- 
er ?  No  college  made  me.  I  made  myself.  That 
is  the  way  to  make  men." 

Foolish  Queerleigh  !  Foolish  able  editor  !  Know- 
est  thou  not  that  there  was  a  stuff  in  thee,  and  a 
spirit  that  has  made  thee  an  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule  ?  Few  men  perhaps,  with  thy  lack  of  ad- 
vantages, would  make  themselves  as  able  as  thou 
art.  But  with  the  advantages  thou  lackedst,  many 
might.     Besides,  clever  as   thou   art,  able   editor, 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  141 

writer,  thinker,  thou  art  not  a  learned  man.  No 
disgrace.  How  shouldst  thou  be  ?  The  thing  for 
thee  to  be  ashamed  of  is,  that  thou  shouldst  decry 
what  thou  hast  not.  For,  those  who  are  both  as 
able  as  thou  art,  and  as  learned  as  thou  art  not,  have 
said  and  testified  in  many  ways,  from  age  to  age, 
that  learning,  high  learning  and  science,  and  the 
discipline  that  comes  with  them,  are  good  things, 
and  minister  to  the  greater  ability  of  the  ablest  of 
able  men.  Hadst  thou  started  in  thy  career  of  life 
possessed  of  the  manifold  culture  and  accomplish- 
ment of  a  thoroughly  educated  man,  thou  mightest 
have  beaten  thy  actual  self  as  much  as  thou  now 
beatest  many  a  printer's  apprentice  with  whom  thou 
didst  begin  thy  career. 

There  is,  too,  Ptolemy  Tongue-end — patriot, 
democrat,  demagogue  orator.  He  blows  with  his 
noisy  breath  a  blast  very  much  in  unison  with  the 
Daily  Trumpet.  He  "  stumpeth  "  at  Ward  meet- 
ings. Unlike  editor  Queerleigh,  he  has  no  faith  in 
the  people,  except  in  their  gullibleness — no  faith  in 
any  thing  except  the  wisdom  of  buttering  his  bread 
with  the  people's  money.  So  he  blows  any  blast 
that  he  thinks  may  help  him  to  the  favor  of  the 
sovereign  people.     He  getteth  into  the  legislature, 


142  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

and  there  opposes,  with  great  wrath  and  noise,  all 
grants  to  Colleges — calling  them  anti-democratic  ; 
though  he  knows  in  his  heart  all  the  while  that  it  is, 
of  all  things  in  the  world,  the  most  democratic,  that 
the  people  should  be  taxed  for  the  endowment  of 
the  highest  institutions  of  learning,  free  to  all,  as  are 
the  Common  Schools — that  so  the  children  of  the 
people,  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  rich,  may  receive 
an  education  that  shall  enable  them  to  take  their 
share  in  the  great  prizes  of  life.  For  nothing  is 
more  true  than  that  the  great  prizes  of  life  (other 
things  being  equal)  are  grasped  by  those  who  have 
the  highest,  most  thorough  and  liberal  education ; 
and  without  a  great  and  perfect  system  of  free  Pub- 
lic Instruction,  including  the  University  and  the 
Colleges,  as  well  as  the  Common  Schools,  the  chil- 
dren of  the  poor  are,  as  a  general  rule,  condemned 
to  a  hopeless  disadvantage,  in  competition  with  the 
sons  of  the  rich,  in  all  the  higher  careers  of  life. 
There  may  be  exceptional  cases  :  but  such  must  be 
the  rule.  This  is  so  patent  and  palpable,  it  seems 
to  me,  to  every  man  of  common  sense  and  common 
candor,  that  I  have  little  patience  with  the  false  and 
stupid  twaddle  which  hollow-hearted  demagogues, 
like  Tongue-end,  or  hopelessly  wrong-headed  able 
editors,  like   Queerleigh,  are   perpetually  pouring 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  143 

into  the  ears  of  the  unenlightened  masses  :  putting 
the  Common  Schools  and  Colleges  in  opposition  to 
each  other — as  if  there  was  any  contradiction  be- 
tween them  ;  as  if  one  was  not  as  necessary  as  the 
other,  as  if  every  principle  of  that  democracy  they 
prate  so  about  did  not  require  that  the  State  should 
provide,  not  only  free  primary  instruction  for  all  the 
children  of  the  people,  but  also  the  highest  instruc- 
tion for  all  such  of  the  children  of  the  people  as  de- 
sire to  go  onward  and  upward  into  the  higher  spheres 
of  useful  and  honorable  exertion.  Gentlemen,  you 
may  boldly  join  issue  with  these  praters.  Expose 
the  foolishness  of  their  hackneyed  cant.  Keep  on 
doing  so  :  and  in  due  time,  if  you  persevere,  you  will 
certainly  disabuse  the  public  mind.  Tongue-end 
will  oppose  you — till  the  people  begin  to  think  as 
he  in  his  heart  now  thinks.  Then  you  will  have  his 
noisy  voice  equally  in  favor  of  the  Colleges,  and  of 
a  great  University  endowed  by  the  state.  Then  he 
will  find  out  that  such  institutions  are  exceedingly 
democratic.  As  to  Queerleigh,  he  will  doubtless 
hold  on  blowing  his  Trumpet  to  the  same  tune  he 
now  does,  until  he  comes  of  himself  to  a  wiser 
mind.     Of  which,  small  hope. 

Such,  gentlemen,  are   some   types  of  the  op- 


144  '         THE  trNIVERSITY  : 

position  you  will  encounter.  Others  might  be 
sketched  did  time  allow.  Besides  these  there  is 
another  class  of  hostile  influences,  not  directly  op- 
posed to  the  creation  of  the  University,  but,  in  seve- 
ral respects,  standing  in  the  way  of  the  full  realiza- 
tion of  its  true  idea.  Of  this  sort  is  the  party  spirit 
of  religious  sectarianism — the  odium  theologicum — 
that  bitterest  of  all  hatreds  ;  and  the  meddling 
spirit  of  solemn  incompetent  mediocrity  in  high 
political  and  social  places,  thinking  it  has  a  special 
gift  and  vocation  to  busy  itself  in  fostering  the  in- 
terests of  learning  and  science,  yet  destitute  of  any 
true  academic  ideas  ;  and  so  meddling  but  to  mar, 
and  sure  to  oppose  if  not  allowed  to  mar.  All  these 
things  are  against  yqu.  A  formidable  array.  I  ad- 
mit it. 

But,  gentlemen,  there  is  no  reason  to  bate  heart 
or  hope,  The  work  to  which  I  invoke  you  is  a  great 
and  noble  work.  Not  without  encouragement  to  reso- 
lute and  patient  labor.  Tongue-end,  and  Queerleigh, 
and  Cunningham,  and  Gubbins,  and  McCheese,  are 
not  all  the  people  of  the  land.  There  are  others — 
numerous  in  every  class,  especially  among  the  more 
enlightened,  whom  your  influence  may  hopefully 
reach.  Truth  and  sound  opinion  need  only  zealous 
and  resolute,  and,  above  all,  patient  propagandists, 


CTS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.       145 

and  in  time  it  will  spread  outward  and  downward — 
as  all  sound  opinion,  the  world  over,  must  and  always 
does  spread — through  the  great,  honest,  and  well- 
disposed  masses,  who  are  ever  ready,  in  heart  and 
will,  to  give  their  support  to  whatsoever  the  glory 
and  welfare  of  the  commonwealth  demands 

Supposing  the  University  to  be  established  on 
the  footing  I  have  suggested,  there  are  certain  ideas 
and  principles  relating  to  its  administration — to 
the  organization  of  the  courses  of  instruction ;  the 
constitution  of  the  Faculties  ;  the  filling  of  the 
Academic  Chairs  ;  the  source  of  Academic  Honors  ; 
the  conferring  of  Degrees,  and  the  principles,  condi- 
tions, and  modes  of  their  bestowal — which  are  indis- 
pensable to  the  highest  success  and  usefulness  of  such 
institutions.  These  I  intended  somewhat  to  have 
considered.  There  are  certain  notions  and  prac- 
tices, certain  ways  of  thinking  and  feeling  preva- 
lent amongst  us  on  these  points,  which  are  utterly 
at  variance  with  the  true  theory  of  a  University — 
with  all  pure  academic  principles.  These  I  intend- 
ed to  have  signalized.  But  the  just  treatment  of 
these  topics  would  require  a  discussion  too  protract- 
ed for  this  time.  I  had  therefore  better  not  now 
enter   upon  them.      At  some  other   time,  and   in 


146  THE  UNIVERSITY  ! 

some  other  form,  I  may  perhaps  call  your  attention 
to  them. 

I  must  now  bring  my  remarks  to  a  close.  The 
circumstances  in  which  I  stand  before  you  will,  I 
trust,  through  your  kindness,  be  allowed  to  justify 
a  word  of  personal  reference.  For  more  than  twelve 
years  I  have  discharged  the  duties  devolving  upon 
my  Professorship  in  this  institution  ;  and  you  who 
have  attended  at  my  lecture  room — as  most  of 
you  have — ^know  with  what  earnestness  and  zeal  I 
have  discharged  them.  These  labors  have  been 
their  own  exceeding  great  reward.  I  have  loved  the 
work.  I  have  tried  to  do  your  minds  good.  I  be- 
lieve you  think  so  too.  I  have  enjoyed  the  good 
will  of  my  colleagues,  and  such  a  kindly  apprecia- 
tion of  my  services  on  their  part  as  leaves  me  noth- 
ing to  desire  on  that  score.  These  are  convictions 
which  I  cherish  more  than  it  is  worth  while  for  me 
to  attempt  to  express. 

It  is  not  a  light  thing,  therefore,  for  me  to  resign 
my  place  here.  I  had  hoped  that  in  the  groves  of 
Oakwood — in  the  beautiful  retreat  which,  in  the 
intervals  of  academic  labor,  has  been  my  home  for 
eighteen  months,  I  might  find  such  repose  and  in- 
vigoration  for  my  overworn  nerves  as  would  enable 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  147 

me  still  to  discharge  the  pleasant  labors  of  my  office. 
In  that  hope  I  am  disappointed.  The  sentence  of 
entire  "  rustication  "  has  been  passed  upon  me — 
and  that  in  a  worse  than  the  academic  sense  of  the 
term  :  for  it  is  without  limit  of  time.  I  bow  to  the 
decree  of  the  doctors  and,  I  will  add,  not  irreverent- 
ly, to  the  will  of  God.  And  in  taldng  leave  of 
you  and  of  my  public  labors,  I  beg  you  to  accept 
the  assurance  of  the  lively  interest  I  shall  ever  feel 
in  your  personal  welfare  and  in  the  prosperity,  en- 
largement, and  fair  renown  of  the  institution  which 
has  been  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  the  best  years  of 
my  life.  A  University  in  name,  I  hope  through 
your  resolute  and  persevering  efforts  it  will  become 
a  University  in  the  fullest  reality  of  the  thing — a 
glory  and  blessing  to  this  city,  to  the  nation,  to 
mankind.  God  prosper  the  cause  of  science  and 
good  letters,  of  truth  and  human  progress  through- 
out the  world. 

NOTE. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  delivered,  I  have  further 
urged  the  need  of  a  University,  in  an  article  contributed 
to  the  editorial  columns  of  the  New  York  Daily  TimeSy 
June  22,  1854,  in  which  I  have  said : 

"The  time  has  come  when  a  great  and  true  University 


148  THE  UNIVERSITY  : 

has  become  a  necessity  for  the  country 

Even  if  such  an  institution  were  not  of  incalculable  im- 
portance to  the  material  prosperity  of  the  nation — which 
it  is — yet  it  is  profoundly  true,  and  a  truth  that  should 
be  profoundly  felt  in  the  great  mind  and  heart  of  the 
people,  that  there  are  spiritual  utilities  derivable  from  the 
culture  of  high  science  and  learning,  more  important  to 
the  best  life  and  welfare  of  a  great  and  rich  common- 
wealth than  all  material  utilities. 

We  believe  it  to  be  within  the  scope  of  the  constitu- 
tional powers  of  the  General  Government  to  establish  a 
National  University  on  the  broadest  foundations^  and 
with  the  amplest  endowments.  But  if  there  be  a  doubt 
about  this,  the  people  should  remove  the  doubt  by  amend- 
ment of  the  Constitution.  Such  an  institution  would  be 
a  glory  and  a  blessing  to  the  nation  and   to   mankind. 

The  progress  of  our  country  in  territory, 

in  population,  in  wealth,  is  already  wonderful,  and  is  des- 
tined to  go  on  to  a  still  more  wonderful  extent.  .  .  '. 
Thus  great  as  we  are,  and  pre-eminently  great  as  we  are 
destined  to  be,  in  every  element  of  material  grandeur, 
shall  we  not  have  the  distinction  and  the  glory,  and 
enjoy  the  exalting  and  conservative  influences  of  possess- 
ing the  greatest  University  in  the  world  ?  Why  not  ? 
The  money  it  would  cost  is  but  a  trifle — large  as  the 
amount  would  be  and  should  be,  yet  but  a  trifle — com- 
pared with  the  honor  and  advantage  it  would  bring." 

The  establishment  of  a  National  University  was  an 


ITS  TRUE  IDEA  AND  RELATIONS.  149 

object  to  which  Washington  attached  great  importance. 
He  seems  to  have  had  no  doubt  about  the  power  of  the 
General  Government  in  the  matter ;  and  how  greatly  he 
had  the  object  at  heart  may  be  seen  in  the  numerous  ref- 
erences to  it  in  his  official  communications,  and  in  his  pri- 
vate correspondence.  I  am  glad  to  perceive  that  Irving 
has  brought  this  point  so  clearly  out  in  the  last  volume 
of  his  Life  of  Washington. 


GALIFORMA:  THE  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ITS 
ACQUISITION. 


CALIFORNIA 


At  a  time  when  the  golden  treasures  of  Cali- 
fornia are  attracting  nearly  all  regards  and  absorh- 
ing  nearly  all  interest,  it  is  important  not  to  neg- 
lect other  aspects  of  the  case  which  are  even  more 
remarkable  and  wonderful.  We  propose,  therefore, 
to  touch  (and  our  space  will  allow  us  to  do  scarcely 
more  than  barely  touch)  upon  some  of  those  con- 
siderations which  go  to  show  the  immense  results 
that  seem  destined  to  follow  from  our  new  territo- 
rial acquisitions  on  the  Pacific. 

It  is  no  ordinary  position,  that  in  which  these 
acquisitions  have  placed  us.  It  is  a  position  of  the 
deepest  world-wide  historical  significance.  It  is  so 
with  reference  to  the  peculiar  relations  which  those 
new  territories  stand  in  to  our  nation  and  to  the 
rest  of  the  world.  It  is  so  with  reference  to  all 
7* 


154  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  : 

that  constitutes  the  world's  historical  present, 
which,  springing  out  of  all  the  past,  contains  in  it- 
self the  mighty,  unevolved,  undisclosed  future.  Its 
significance  is  not  so  much  in  what  we  actually  see 
to-day,  as  in  what  we  know  must  come  to  pass,  as 
the  stream  of  the  world's  history  goes  hroadening 
and  deepening  on  in  the  ages  to  come.  Its  signifi- 
cance is  in  the  fact  that  it  contains  the  elements, 
the  principles,  the  forces  of  A  new  centralization^ 
OF  THE  NATIONS  OF  THE  EARTH.  It  is  the  begin- 
ning of  a  great  American  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  Just  as  certainly  as  there  was  a  period 
when  Asia  was  historically  the  centre  of  the  world ; 
and  subsequently  a  period  when  Europe  became  so  ; 
— just  so  certainly  the  acquisition  of  these  territo- 
ries on  the  Pacific,  seems  destined  to  make  our 
country  the  world's  historical  centre.  Over  the 
two  oceans  that  wash  our  eastern  and  our  western 
shores,  Europe  and  Asia  seem  destined  to  reach 
forth  their  arms,  to  meet  and  shake  hands  with 
each  other  across  our  continent.  We  do  not  say 
we  can  predict  with  absolute  certainty  when  and 
how  far  this  is  to  be  ;  but  we  say  that,  in  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  world,  its  civilization,  its  sci- 
ence, its  arts,  its  commerce,  its  means  of  commu- 
nication— there  are  the  conditions,  the  forces,  which 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  155 

have  but  to  work  naturally  forward  in  tlie  direction 
they  are  now  working,  and,  in  all  human  likelihood, 
this  stupendous  result  must  in  due  time  come  to 
he  accomplished — a  new  historical  centrahzation  of   V 
the  nations,  and  America  the  mediator  between    I 
both  sides  of  the  old  world.  — ^ 

Just  consider  how  the  case  stands.  In  the  se- 
quel of  a  war,  which  it  is  not  needful  for  us  to 
characterize  further  than  by  saying  that  all  unne- 
cessary wars  are  unjust  wars — in  the  sequel  of  this 
war,  we  have  gained  an  immense  accession  to  our 
territories  on  the  Pacific  Ocean.*  Our  government 
now  stretches  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  con- 
tinent from  shore  to  shore,  from  the  Atlantic  con- 
necting us  with  Europe  on  the  one  side,  to  the  Pa- 
cific connecting  us  with  Asia  on  the  other  side  ;  and 
from  the  great  chain  of  inland  waters  on  the  north, 
lying  nearly  on  the  furthest  line  of  the  temperate 
zone,  to  the  tropical  regions  on  the  south — em- 
bracing an  area  nearly  as  large  as  all  those  states 
of  Europe  put  together,  which  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  have  been  the  centre  of  the  civili- 
zation of  the  world. 

*  As  this  sentence  was  printed  in  the  American  Keview,  the  ac- 
quisition of  this  territory  is  said  to  have  been  gained  "  by  fair  pur- 
chase." The  words  were  an  interpolation  by  the  editor,  and  ex- 
pressed an  opinion  I  had  carefully  abstained  from  expressing. 


156  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  . 

And  how  stands  it  with  our  nation,  considered 
as  the  possessors,  the  occupiers  of  this  vast  terri- 
tory? In  less  than  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
within  the  memory  of  men  now  alive,  we  have 
grown  from  three  millions  of  people  to  more  than 
twenty  millions  ;  and  at  the  same  rate  of  increase, 
many  now  alive  may  live  to  see  us  grown  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  millions.  That  immense  region 
of  our  country  which  we  have  hitherto  been  accus- 
tomed to  call  the  West — a  term  which  has  gone 
on  constantly  receding  and  extending  in  its  appli- 
cation from  the  Ohio  to  the  Missouri,  and  to  the 
foot  of  the  Eocky  Mountains — that  immense  region 
has  become  full  of  life  and  of  men ;  innumerable 
steamboats  swiftly  meet  and  pass  each  other  on  the 
great  rivers,  where  not  long  ago  the  solitary  ark 
floated  down  the  stream  ;  and  all  along  their  banks, 
where  the  hunter  and  the  trapper  but  yesterday 
sought  their  game,  great  towns  and  cities  have 
sprung  up  all  astir  with  the  multitudinous  hum  of 
men,  and  resounding  with  the  din  of  labor  and  of 
traffic  ;  receiving  and  exchanging  the  products  of 
a  thousand  millions  of  acres  of  those  vast  fertile 
plains,  through  which  those  mighty  rivers  flow — 
plains  where  the  sturdy  labor  of  ten  thousand 
thousand  strong-armed  settlers  has  made  the  tall 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  157 

prairie  grass  give  place  to  waving  fields  of  corn  and 
wheat. 

But  what  has  hitherto  been  our  Great  West, 
must  cease  to  be  so  now.  Our  true  West  has 
passed  over  the  Bocky  Mountains,  and  lies  along 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific  from  Oregon  to  California. 

And  the  question  now  arises,  whether  those  vast 
territories  are  to  be  filled  up  rapidly  with  people, 
and  to  remain  an  integral  part  of  our  nation,  stand- 
ing in  a  living  social  and  political  union  with  the 
States  this  side  the  Rocky  Mountains  ?  Of  this, 
we  think  there  can  be  no  doubt.  As  to  the  rapid 
settlement  of  the  country,  this  seems  likely  to  be 
secured  by  the  golden  attractions  that  are  drawing 
thousands  and  thousands  thither  from  the  Atlantic 
shores,  from  all  parts  of  our  country  and  from  other 
quarters  of  the  world. 

But  this  alone,  the  mere  filling  up  of  the  coun- 
try by  settlers,  going,  even  the  great  majority  of 
them,  from  among  ourselves,  and  carrying  the  spirit 
and  the  love  of  our  institutions,  and  the  desire  to 
remain  in  political  union  with  us  ;  this  will  not  of 
itself  be  enough  to  make  those  territories  a  perma- 
nent integral  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
secure  those  stupendous,  world-embracing  historical 
consequences  of  which  we  have  spoken.     For  if 


158  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFOBNIA  I 

communication  is  to  be  maintained  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  shores  only  by  long  voyages 
around  Cape  Horn,  or  even  by  the  shorter  route 
through  a  foreign  state,  across  the  Isthmus  by  Cha- 
gres  to  Panama,  it  seems  scarcely  possible  that  a 
permanent  political  union  can  be  preserved.  The 
action  of  our  central  government  can  scarcely  in 
this  way  stretch  itself  to  embrace  and  keep  the 
whole  in  a  true  political  connection.  The  great 
Kocky  Mountains,  and  the  deserts  said  to  lie  be- 
tween the  two  sides  of  the  nation,  will  form  a  bar- 
rier to  prevent  the  sense  of  oneness,  the  preserva- 
tion of  national  feeling,  and  of  true  social  and  po- 
litical union.  But  let  the  stupendous  results  of 
modern  science  be  applied,  let  the  great  projected 
lines  of  railroad  communication  connect  the  two 
sides  of  the  continent ;  let  the  telegraphic  wires  elec- 
trically unite  them  ;  and  how  different  the  case. 
Yet  there  is  nothing  impracticable  in  this  ;  nothing 
visionary  ;  nothing  near  so  wonderful  in  the  pros- 
pect of  its  speedy  accomplishment  as  in  what  has  al- 
ready been  actually  accomplished  in  the  recent  past. 
And  there  are  causes,  commercial  and  poHtical, 
which  are  as  sure  to  work  out  its  steady  accomplish- 
ment, as  the  sun  is  sure  to  rise  and  set.  And  how 
easily  then,  under  God,  is  the  problem  solved  of  bind- 


ITS  HISTOKICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  159 

ing  and  keeping  together,  in  a  living  social  and  civil 
union,  the  eastern  and  the  western  shores  of  the 
continent.  The  Kocky  Mountains,  as  to  all  practi- 
cal effect,  will  sink  down.  The  barriers  of  time 
and  space  will  be  annihilated.  The  tide  of  emigra- 
tion, setting  in  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  can 
roll  through  the  mountain  passes  ;  and  men  can 
transport  themselves  from  our  eastern  shores  to  set- 
tle on  the  Pacific  in  one-quarter  of  the  time,  and 
with  one-tenth  of  the  hardships  that  were  involved 
in  emigrating  from  New  York  to  Ohio  fifty  years 
ago,  or  to  the  more  western  States  even  twenty 
years  ago.  Representatives  from  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia can  reach  their  seats  in  the  Capitol  more 
quickly  and  more  easily  than  representatives  came 
from  New  Hampshire  once.  Add  to  this  the  com- 
munication of  thought,  passing  literally  with  the 
speed  of  lightning  to  and  fro  across  the  continent, 
and  from  the  central  seat  of  government  to  the  re- 
motest points  in  the  circuit  of  the  nation  ;  and  how 
different  is  the  problem  of  binding  together  in  a 
central  union  immense  and  remote  states,  from 
what  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It 
took  more  days,  and  we  do  not  know  but  we  may 
say  more  weeks,  for  the  central  government  of  Rome 
to  communicate  with  its  remote  provinces,  even 


160  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  : 

along  the  great  military  roads,  (those  prodigious 
monuments  of  Roman  grandeur,)  than  it  will  take 
minutes  to  carry  the  action  of  our  central  govern- 
ment to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  to  any  other 
remotest  point  in  the  nation.  Add  again  to  this 
the  sameness  of  language,  institutions,  and  laws, 
which  will  prevail  throughout  the  States ;  the  ef- 
fect of  the  reserved  sovereign  rights  of  the  several 
States  in  securing  all  local  interests  and  satisfying 
all  local  sense  of  importance ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  memhership  in  the  Union  secures  innumera- 
ble advantages  not  otherwise  attained,  and  gratifies 
the  larger  sense  of  national  importance.  Put  these 
things  together,  and  we  do  not  see  why,  under  God, 
we  may  not  remain  centrally  united  as  a  nation, 
though  we  grow  to  be  fifty  States  and  three  hun- 
dred millions  of  people.  The  action  of  all  histori- 
cal causes,  political,  social,  commercial,  seems  to 
tend  more  clearly  to  this  than  to  any  contrary  re- 
sult. We  can  see  but  one  disturbing  cause  to  cast 
the  shadow  of  ill  omen  over  these  bright  auguries, 
and  that  is  in  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  in  the  hostile  feelings  it  has 
engendered.  But  the  smallness  of  the  area  where 
slavery  exists,  or  ever  can  exist,  as  compared  with 
the  whole  area  of  the  country  ;  the  diminished  rel- 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  161 

ative  political  importance  of  the  South  in  the  fu- 
ture great  growth  of  population  in  the  free  States  ; 
the  increasing  conviction  in  the  slave  States  that 
slavery  makes  them  poor,  (a  conviction  which  the 
contrast  between  the  growth  of  the  slaveholding 
and  of  the  adjacent  non-slaveholding  States  forces 
more  and  more  strongly  home  ;)  the  importance  of 
the  Union  to  the  South,  equal  at  least  to  that  of 
the  South  to  the  Union  ;  and  finally,  the  progress 
of  moral  convictions  on  the  subject  in  the  South, 
and  the  predominance  of  wise  and  conciliating 
counsels  at  the  North,  will,  we  trust,  under  God, 
solve  this  problem  without  rupture,  by  the.  gradual 
ultimate  dying  out  of  slavery  at  the  South,  in  the 
same  way  that  it  has  died  out  at  the  North ;  a  re- 
sult which,  we  believe,  would  have  already  been 
substantially  realized  in  the  more  northern  slave- 
holding  States,  but  for  certain  influences,  coming 
partly  from  the  lower  South,  and  partly  from  the 
North,  that  have  concurred  to  retard  it. 

But  however  this  may  be,  the  question  of  slavery 
will  not  retard  the  rapid  filling  up  of  the  country 
on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  great  lines  of  railroad 
communication  will  be  made,  and  the  telegraphic 
wires  will  be  set  up  along  the  track.  This  may  be 
held  for  certain.     And  the  accomplishment  of  this 


162  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  : 

vast,  yet  simple  and  altogether  outward  and  physical 
result,  is  of  profounder  importance,  and  must  be  so 
regarded  by  every  one  who  knows  how  to  estimate 
events  in  their  true  historical  significance,  than  all 
the  revolutions  in  the  States  of  Europe,  which  have 
made  the  year  1848  a  year  of  wonders  in  the  chron- 
icles of  the  world. 

Its  effect  will  not  be  limited  to  the  binding  to- 
gether, in  a  true  national  union,  the  two  sides  of 
our  continent.  It  must  work  a  change  in  the  whole 
commercial  relations  of  the  globe.  The  trade  of 
China,  and  of  a  large  portion  of  Asia,  must  find  its 
way  across  the  western  ocean  to  our  Pacific  shores, 
building  up  great  towns  and  cities  there,  and  thence 
across  the  continent  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  there  to 
meet  the  trade  of  Europe  coming  over  the  Atlantic 
on  its  western  route.  And  thus  for  Europe  the  old 
problem  of  a  western  passage  to  the  Indies  will  be 
solved  in  a  way  that  Columbus  never  dreamed  of, 
when  he  set  out-  to  find  it  across  the  trackless,  un- 
known seas.  New  York  will  thus  lie  within  twenty- 
five  days  of  China,  and  ten  days  of  Europe ;  and 
must  become  the  great  entrepot  of  the  world.  Thus 
we  see  how  the  connection  between  the  eastern  and 
western  coasts  of  our  continent,  (which  is  certain, 
sooner  or  later,  to  be  accomplished,)  must  change 
the  commerce  of  the  globe. 


ITS  HISTOKICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  163  r 

And  this  change  involves  other  changes,  affect-  \ 
ing  the  whole  course  and  character  of  the  history  \ 
of  humanity,  social,  political,  and  moral.  This  is  a 
point  that  needs  not  be  argued  to  any  one  familiar 
with  the  history  of  the  world,  and  competent  to 
appreciate  the  working  of  historical  causes.  Always 
the  stream  of  the  world's  history  has  been  drawn 
into  the  course  of  the  great  lines  of  commercial  com- 
munication ;  and  this  must  be  more  than  ever  the 
case  in  the  present  and  coming  age.  America  must 
become  the  centre  of  the  world  ;  and  that  not  in  a 
merely  physical  or  commercial  way,  but  in  a  deeper, 
true  historical  sense — a  sense  not  to  gratify  an  over- 
weening national  pride  and  vain-gloriousness,  where- 
of we  have  already  more  than  enough,  but  a  sense 
full  of  momentous  responsibilities,  involving  infinite 
possibilities  of  evil  as  well  as  good. 

Our  country  has  entered  on  a  new  epoch  in  its 
history.  From  this  year  we  take  a  new  start  in 
national  development ;  one  that  must,  more  than 
ever  before,  draw  the  world's  history  into  the  stream 
of  ours.  This  enlargement  of  our  own  national 
sphere,  takes  place,  too,  remarkably  enough,  just 
at  the  time  when  the  whole  old-settled  order  of 
things  in  Europe  is  breaking  up  and  passing  forever 
away  ;  and  the  old  world  turns  its  eyes  to  the  new 


164  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFOKNIA. 

with  a  sense  never  felt  before,  that  its  destiny  is 
bound  Tip  with  ours.  The  life  of  Europe  seems  des- 
tined also  to  pour  itself  upon  our  shores,  as  never 
in  times  past,  and  to  help  form  that  yet  unformed 
national  character  which  the  coming  age  must  de- 
termine for  us. 

Now,  for  what  purpose  has  the  providence  of 
God  conducted  our  nation  unconsciously  through  the 
events  of  the  last  three  years,  to  the  edge  and  pros- 
pect of  such  a  stupendous,  startling  future  ? 

"We  say  the  providence  of  God ;  and  we  say 
this,  not  as  mere  words  of  course — a  customary 
phrase,  without  meaning.  For  as  certainly  as  Di- 
vine Providence  is  recognized  for  a  truth  at  all,  it 
must  be  recognized  that  there  are  two  elements  in 
history,  a  Divine  element  as  well  as  a  human  ele- 
ment ;  that  a  Divine  idea  is  ever  realizing  itself  in 
the  historical  life  of  humanity,  as  truly  as  in  the 
life  of  nature  ;  in  the  events  of  human  history,  as  in 
the  phenomena  of  the  material  world  ;  an  idea  not 
realized,  nor  to  be  apprehended,  in  the  developments 
of  a  day  or  a  year,  but  in  the  flow  of  generations 
and  ages.  The  disciplinary  education  of  the  human 
race — this,  we  believe,  is  the  divine  idea  that  under- 
lies the  whole  history  of  the  world.  We  have  di- 
vine commentaries  to  this  effect  upon  some  of  the 


ITS  HISTOKIOAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  165 

most  significant  portions  of  the  history  of  the  an- 
cient world. 

Herein  is  the  great  and  peculiar  interest  of  the 
most  ancient  historical  records.  They  contain  not 
only  the  authentication  of  the  idea,  but  its  authen- 
tic application  to  the  course  of  events.  They  en- 
able us  to  see  what  otherwise  we  might  not  be  able 
to  see  in  any  such  determinate  way.  They  disclose 
to  us  the  providence  of  Godj  interposing  with  a 
special  moral  purpose  in  events  which,  to  all  out- 
ward appearance,  were  the  mere  results  of  the 
ordinary  laws  of  nature  and  of  the  working  of  ordi- 
nary historical  causes.  Behind  the  series  of  outward 
events  we  are  made  to  see  the  Supreme  Disposer 
touching  the  springs  of  human  action,  permitting 
or  thwarting  the  outward  results  of  men's  free  de- 
terminations, and  swaying  with  absolute  grasp  the 
agencies  of  nature.  And,  beyond  question,  the 
great  ptlrpose  for  which  these  historical  records,  en- 
lightened by  these  divine  commentaries,  have  come 
down  to  us,  is  to  teach  impressively,  for  all  nations 
and  for  all  times,  the  great  truth  that  the  Providence 
of  God  is  the  Genius  of  Human  History.  If  we  had 
similar  commentaries  on  the  world's  whole  history, 
the  same  great  truth  which  is  so  impressively  taught 
in  those  records  would  doubtless  be  seen  with  equal 


166  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  : 

clearness  on  the  face  of  all  the  history  of  the  world. 
If  the  records  of  all  nations,  in  all  ages,  were  ac- 
companied with  like  authentic  interpretations,  we 
should  then  see  clearly  the  Divine  as  well  as  the 
human  element  in  history. 

But  none  the  less  is  it  necessary  to  a  right  con-  ^ 
ception  of  history  that  we  should  recognize  the  idea 
of  Divine  Providence,  even  where  we  lack  the  clear, 
authentic  application  of  the  idea  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  events.  The  mind  and  the  hand  of  the  Al- 
mighty, as  well  as  the  mind  and  the  hand  of  man, 
have  been  in  all  the  fates  and  fortunes  of  the  nations 
— in  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  the  revolutions  of 
dynasties,  the  wars  and  conquests,  battles  and  sieges, 
negotiations  and  treaties,  with  which  the  pages  of 
history  are  filled.  Invisibly,  in  and  behind  the  vis- 
ible procession  of  events,  the  Supreme  Disposer  has 
presided  over  the  course  of  events  which  have  made 
the  last  year'*^  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  old 
world  and  of  the  new.  And  we  say  it  is  He  that 
has  brought  the  course  of  history  to  one  of  those 
great  epochs,  when  we  cannot  help  looking  both  ways 
— backward  on  the  past,  and  forward  to  the  future. 
And  though  we  may  be  quite  unable  to  pronounce, 
in  any  determinate  way,  upon  the  Divine  purpose 

*  Written  in  1849. 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  167 

in  regard  to  tlie  coming  period,  yet  still  the  ques- 
tion is  one  we  cannot  well  help  framing  to  ourselves, 
and  one  which,  in  the  way  of  reasonable  conjecture, 
and  probable  interpretation,  we  cannot  well  help 
attempting  to  answer. 

We  have  seen  that  aU  causes  portend  a  new 
centralization  of  the  nations  ;  and  that  our  country 
seems  destined  in  the  coming  age,  to  be  the  new 
historical  centre  of  the  earth — the  mediator  between 
both  sides  of  the  old  world.  And  it  seems  no  less 
clear  that  God  intends  to  give  here,  on  this  conti- 
nent, a  scope  for  human  energies  of  thought  and  will, 
such  as  has  never  yet  been  seen  since  the  days  be- 
fore the  flood  ;  to  let  here  be  seen  the  freest,  widest, 
most  diversified  and  powerful  display  of  what  man's 
science  and  skill  can  accomplish,  in  subduing  the 
elements,  in  controlling  and  applying  the  tremen- 
dous forces  of  nature  ;  in  overcoming  and  annihila- 
ting the  old  limitations  of  human  endeavor  ;  in  un- 
folding the  physical  resources  of  the  earth  ;  in  the 
creation  of  boundless  wealth  and  a  boundless  sphere 
for  action  and  enjoyment — a  movement  that  shall 
draw  the  whole  world  around  it  and  along  with  it 
in  its  gigantic  march. 

All  this  seems  portended  in  the  coming  age,  and 
to  an  extent  of  which  we  can  now  probably  frame 


168  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFOENIA  : 

no  adequate  conception.  Forty  years  ago  he  who 
should  have  predicted  the  results  that  man's  science 
and  man's  energy  have  now  brought  to  pass,  and 
made  so  familiar  to  us  that  we  cease  to  wonder  at 
them,  would  have  been  laughed  at  for  a  madman. 
How  do  we  know  what  new  wonders  man's  science 
and  man's  energy  are  destined  to  bring  to  pass  in  the 
next  forty  years  to  come  ?  It  is  quite  likely  we 
should  count  him  equally  a  fool  who  should  describe 
to  us  what  will  be  familiar  matters  of  fact  to  our 
children. 

But  here  the  great  and  solemn  question  springs 
up,  is  this  boundless  physical  development  to  sub- 
serve the  moral  and  spiritual  perfectionment  of  man 
and  of  society  ;  or  is  it,  on  the  contrary,  to  lead  to 
a  godless,  self-willed,  gigantic  wickedness  ? 

Of  one  thing  we  may  be  sure  :  no  mere  com- 
mercial and  political  centralization  of  the  world, 
can  accomplish  the  true  fraternization  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  It  is  not  in  mere  forms  of  govern- 
ment, not  in  the  fullest,  world-wide  development 
of  democratic  institutions,  to  save  and  regenerate 
the  world.  Men  must  learn  to  reverence  something 
higher  than  money  aud  themselves  ;  they  must 
learn  that  the  spirit  of  self-will  is  not  the  genius  of 
true  freedom.     It  is  not  in  popular  education,  as  it 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  169 

is  called — mere  intellectual  culture  and  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge.  Men  must  be  wise  and  good  as 
well  as  sharp  and  knowing.  No  widest  extension 
of  suffrage,  and  largest  posssesion  of  political  rights ; 
no  marvels  of  scientific  discovery  and  application  ; 
no  increase  of  wealth  ;  no  multiplication  of  the 
means  and  refinements  of  earthly  enjoyment,  can 
work  the  regeneration  and  perfection  of  the  social 
state,  and  secure  the  permanent  well-being  of  hu- 
manity. A  godless  self-willed  world,  armed  with 
the  more  than  gigantic  powers  over  nature  which 
modern  science  gives,  may  rear  heaven-climbing 
towers,  only  in  the  end  to  be  crushed  in  the  fall  of 
their  own  toppling  erections.  Nothing  in  the  long 
run  can  save  our  country  and  the  world  from  a  fate 
worse  than  that  of  the  old  Titans — ^nothing  but  the 
living  power  embodied  in  the  constitution  of  Chris- 
tianity permeating  and  sanctifying  this  prodigious 
material  civiKzation.  / 

We  say  this  not  merely  as  Christians  ;  it  goes 
upon  a  principle  which  no  man  can  deny  who  is  at 
all  competent  to  estimate  the  historical  causes  of 
human  progress,  and  upon  a  fact  as  undenied  by  any 
one,  as  it  is  undeniable.  No  competent  historical 
philosopher  but  admits  the  principle,  that  the  fates 
and  fortunes  of  nations  are  determined,  not  merely 
8 


170  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  *. 

by  material,  but  by  moral  causes — causes  lying  in 
the  inmost  mind  and  lieart,  in  the  character  and 
spirit  of  the  people  ;  and  that,  of  all  these  causes 
the  religious  convictions  and  systems  of  a  people, 
resting  as  they  do  upon  one  of  the  most  deep-seated 
sentiments  of  human  nature,  are  the  most  power- 
ful. Equally  undeniable  and  undenied  is  the  fact 
that  Christianity,  considered  as  a  special  constitu- 
tion of  religion,  not  only  has  had  an  historical  exist- 
ence for  near  two  thousand  years,  but  in  nearly  all 
that  time  has  been  one  of  the  most  significant  facts 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  At  the  present  mo- 
ment, it  is  the  reKgious  constitution  prevailing 
throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  the  civilized  por- 
tion of  the  earth.  It  is  wrought  more  or  less  into 
the  civil  and  social  life,  into  the  convictions  and 
habits  of  our  own  nation,  and  of  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope, into  the  course  of  whose  history  the  rest  of 
the  world  is  destined  to  be  drawn ;  and  no  sane 
man  can  for  a  moment  believe  that  it  is  to  be  su- 
perseded in  the  ages  to  come  by  any  other  special 
religious  constitution.  If  there  is  to  be  any  relig- 
ion in  the  coming  age,  it  is  to  be  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. 

Now  what  we  have  to  say  is,  that  if  Christianity 
is  to  exist  to  any  good  purpose  in  the  new  and 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  I7l 

grand  career  of  development  on  whicli  the  world  is 
entering,  it  must  exist  not  as  a  mere  formula,  not 
as  a  mere  outward  institute,  but  as  a  true  moral 
power,  an  organic  life  power  in  the  historical  life  of 
the  world.  It  must  exist  as  a  counteracting  power 
to  the  naturally  destructive  tendencies  resulting  from 
any  prodigious,  unchecked  overgrowth  of  the  mere 
intellectual  and  physical  elements  in  the  life  of  the 
people.  Grandeur  and  wealth,  luxury  and  corrup- 
tion, dissolution  and  ruin,  this  is  the  brief  but  accu- 
rate summary  of  the  history  of  the  extinct,  but  once 
most  powerful  empires  of  the  ancient  world  ;  and 
he  has  read  history  to  but  little  purpose,  and  has 
but  little  competency  to  read  it  to  any  good  purpose, 
who  does  not  know  that  without  some  a'dequate 
conservative  moral  power,  our  national  history  will 
sooner  or  later  be  summed  up  in  the  same  words. 
And  we  may  safely  challenge  any  man  to  deny  that 
Christianity,  in  the  proper  working  of  its  spirit  and 
principles,  is  that  adequate  conservative  power.  We 
may  safely  challenge  any  man  to  imagine  any  other 
power  which,  either  in  its  own  nature,  or  in  the  like- 
lihood of  its  organic  incorporation  into  modern  civil- 
ization, can  for  one  moment  be  regarded  as  equally 
adequate,  or  at  all  approaching  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  so  permeating  and  sanctifying  the 


172  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  ! 

elements  of  liigli  physical  civilization,  as  to  secure 
tlie  permanent  welfare  and  true  perfection  of  tlie 
social  state. 

We  say  Christianity,  in  the  proper  working  of 
its  spirit  and  principles  ;  for  as  a  spiritual,  a  moral 
power,  it  can  work  only  as  it  is  let  work  ;  it  may 
be  thwarted,  resisted,  perverted.  Hence  it  is,  that 
the  history  of  Christianity  enters  into  that  which 
constitutes  the  deepest  theme,  the  inmost  sense  of 
the  world's  whole  history — the  stuggle  between  good 
and  evil.  This  we  must  bear  in  mind,  or  we  can- 
not form  a  right  historical  appreciation  of  it.  For 
eighteen  hundred  years  it  has  been  struggling  with 
the  powers  of  darkness  and  evil.  And  if  it  has  not 
yet  brought  humanity  to  a  state  of  social  perfection, 
if  it  has  not  accomplished  the  social  perfectionment 
of  any  nation  where  it  has  obtained  a  footing,  one 
thing  is  undeniable  :  it  has  carried  Christendom  to 
a  higher  point  of  social  and  moral  development  than 
any  nation  of  Pagan  antiquity  ever  attained.  To 
its  power  is  due  all  that  distinguishes  modern  civil- 
ization, all  that  makes  it  superior  to  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Old  World.  This  has  been  accomplish- 
ed in  spite  of  the  resistance  which  pride  and  self- 
will,  and  selfishness,  and  passion,  oppose  to  its 
proper  influence. 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  173 

And  during  this  time  we  have  had  a  memorable 
demonstration,  in  a  true  historical  way,  of  the  futil- 
ity of  all  schemes  for  the  perfection  of  the  social 
state  proceeding  in  a  hostile  repudiation  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  the  eighteenth  century  human  reason, 
(as  it  called  itself,)  having  plundered  from  sacred 
tradition  every  point  and  particle  of  truth  and  wis- 
dom, which  made  it  wiser  than  human  reason  in 
the  pagan  ages  of  the  world,  saw  fit  to  set  up  for 
itself,  to  proclaim  its  independence  of  divine  instruc- 
tion. At  this  stage  it  did  not  announce  itself  in 
atheistic  or  immoral  hostility  to  Christianity.  It 
only  talked  of  separating  philosophy  from  theology, 
of  vindicating  for  the  former  its  proper  province 
and  rightful  independence.  But  it  did  not  stop 
here.  It  began  before  long  to  deny  and  belie  the 
very  source  of  all  the  light  it  had,  and  to  arrogate 
its  stolen  treasures  as  its  own  discoveries  and  pos- 
sessions. And  it  went  on  philosophizing  and  phil- 
osophizing, until,  in  the  end,  it  philosophized  itself 
into  the  absolute  denial  of  all  spiritual  truth  ;  till  it 
announced,  as  the  last  and  highest  discoveries  of  hu- 
man wisdom,  that  there  was  no  God,  no  difference 
of  right  and  wrong  ;  that  man  was  a  machine,  and 
death  an  eternal  sleep. 

Then  it  set  about  the  regeneration  of  humanity, 


174  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  :      , 

the  perfecting  of  the  social  state,  the  bringing  in 
the  "age  of  reason."  The  French  Kevolution  was 
the  practical  result,  and  the  fitting  exposition  of  its 
labors.  It  demolished  all  the  past ;  and  on  the  ba- 
sis of  its  grand  negations — no  God  ;  no  right  and 
wrong  ;  no  spirit  in  man  ;  no  life  beyond  the  grave 
— it  began  re -constructing  anew  the  social  fabric, 
in  which  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  universal  broth- 
erhood, equality  and  social  bliss.  The  golden  age 
was  to  be  no  longer  a  fable  and  poetic  dream  ;  the 
bright  ideal  of  a  perfect  social  state  was  to  be  real- 
ized. Humanity,  disenthralled  from  the  yoke  of 
priestcraft  and  superstition,  (to  which  all  social 
evils  had  before  been  owing,)  was  to  come  forth  re- 
generated and  ennobled  in  the  pure  light  and  free 
air  of  reason.  Man  was  to  realize  a  godlike  and 
divine  life  by  the  very  act  of  scouting  and  denying 
every  thing  godlike  and  divine  ! 

We  know  with  what  success  the  preposterous 
experiment  was  wrought  out.  "We  know  what  loath- 
some abortions  this  French  philosophy,  after  driving 
God  (as  it  thought)  out  of  the  world,  brought 
forth.  With  the  cant  words  of  "  liberty,"  '^  equal- 
ity," "  fraternization,"  "  age  of  reason,"  ''  human 
regeneration,"  "  universal  brotherhood,"  on  its  lips, 
it  made  man  a  terror  to  himself,  made  society  worse 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  175 

than  a  cage  of  wild  beasts,  capable  of  inflicting  a 
thousand-fold  greater  curses  on  itself  than  all  the 
evils  superstition  ever  wrought. 

Now,  we.  ask,  if  herein  it  was  not  the  purpose  of 
Divine  Providence  to  teach  mankind  a  lesson  never 
to  be  forgotten  ?  Has  not  that  atheistic  immoral 
philosophy,  with  its  insane,  blasphemous  babblings, 
made  itself  known  by  its  fruits  ?  Has  it  not  shown, 
on  a  grand  scale,  how  much  it  could  do  for  the  re- 
generation of  the  world  .?  And  has  it  not  become 
a  hissing  and  a  by-word,  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of 
all  coming  time  .?  Did  not  God  thus  lead*humani- 
ty  some  steps  onward  in  that  wild  and  terrible  night 
of  anarchy  and  storms  ?  He  did.  He  did.  Never 
again,  we  may  believe,  will  such  a  scene  be  enacted 
on  this  world's  theatre.  Never  such  a  regenera- 
tion of  humanity  again.  Never  again  such  a  de- 
struction of  the  old  spiritual  and  eternal  foundations 
of  social  order,  and  such  a  re-construction  of  the 
social  fabric  on  the  basis  of  atheistic  negations.  The 
whole  thing — the  whole  self-conceited,  arrogant, 
jeering,  profane,  blasphemous  thing — was  first  ex- 
posed in  its  infinite  loathsome  nakedness,  and  then 
exploded  into  infinite  ineptitude  and  nothingness. 
But  it  has  taught  a  great  lesson.  It  has  given  an 
absolute  demonstration  of  its  futility  and  foolishness 


176  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  : 

— an  historical  demonstration  on  the  widest  nation- 
al stage^  with  the  whole  world  for  spectators  looking 
on  ;  to  the  end  that  mankind  may  henceforward 
forever  point  its  finger  and  hiss  at  the  stupid  pro- 
ject of  building  up  a  perfect  social  state,  by  denying 
God,  and  reducing  man  to  the  level  of  the  brutes. 
And  that  this  lesson  has  been  measurably  learned, 
the  new  French  Kevolution  of  the  last  year  has 
given  proof — in  the  fact  not  only  that  it  proceeded 
upon  no  formal  repudiation  of  Christian  ideas,  but 
that  all  the  political  movements  socially  destruc- 
tive in  their  nature,  and  having  their  root  in  a  spirit 
really  hostile  to  Christianity,  have  been  beaten  and 
put  down,  and  their  authors  and  abettors  shown  to 
stand  in  a  minority  altogether  insignificant  and 
powerless.  Doubtless  there  has  been  little  enough 
of  the  true  religious  spirit,  in  that  series  of  rapid 
and  startling  political  changes  ;  doubtless,  more 
than  enough  of  pride,  self-will,  selfish  passion  and 
the  exaggerated  sense  of  rights,  without  the  sense 
of  the  duties  they  rest  upon,  imply,  and  impose  ; 
but  still  the  national  spirit  has  displayed  itself  in 
no  hostility  to  Christian  ideas,  in  no  insane  attempt 
to  build  up  the  new  civil  and  social  order  upon  the 
destruction  of  Christian  institutions.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  striking  differences  between  this  new 


.   ^  ,^^  t^-^yd^    C^^>^X^  ^^^'^ 

^>A       rv^JJS  HISTORICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  177     ^^"^"^ 

French  Revolution  and  tlie  first  one.  And  it  is  a  J  ^^  a 
lesson  which  the  present  age  has  learned  from  ther  i  -y^ 
past. 

But  it  is  not  enough  for  the  coming  age  that 
this  lesson  be  learned  only  in  its  negative  side.  No 
enough  that  atheistic  and  immoral  negations  be  no 
longer  a  fashionable  creed.  Not  enough  that  Chris- 
tianity be  acknowledged  as  a  formula,  and  exist  as 
a  visible  institute,  deferentially  recognized  while 
practically  disregarded  or  resisted.  Yet  here  pre- 
cisely lies  the  danger  to  be  apprehended.  The  spirit 
of  the  age  is  a  spirit  of  hard  worldliness  and  self- 
willed  pride — not  announcing  itself  in  any  theoretic 
rejection  of  the  ideas  of  God  and  the  divine  consti- 
tution of  religion,  but  in  a  disposition  to  resist  and 
overbear  the  practical  force  of  those  ideas.  The 
natural  tendency  of  the  prodigious  multiplication 
of  the  material  interests,  of  the  prodigious  extension 
of  man's  sphere  of  activity,  and  of  the  prodigious 
intensity  of  the  outward  life  that  is  everywhere  go- 
ing on,  is  to  increase  this  spirit  more  and  more.  It 
may  be  quite  willing  to  allow  the  ideas  of  God  and 
his  Church,  provided  it  may  shape  and  bend  them 
after  its  own  way.  It  may  be  quite  willing  even  to 
let  them   stand  as  they  announce   themselves  in 

Christianity,  provided  a  respectful  acknowledgment 
8* 


178  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA  I 

Vof  them  will  answer  in  place  of  practical  submission 
to  them.  But  if  they  become  troublesome — they 
must  stand  aside. 

Now,  to  this  spirit  Christianity  must,  of  necessity, 
oppose  itself ;  and  in  the  collision  it  must  conquer 
— if  it  is  to  save  itself  and  to  save  the  world.  It 
must  pervade  and  sanctify,  master  and  control,  the 
spirit  of  our  nation,  and  of  the  nations  drawn  into 
its  course  in  the  career  of  boundless  wealth  and 
power,  on  which  we  have  entered  ;  or  it  cannot  in 
any  adequate  way  act  as  a  countervailing,  conserva- 
tive power  against  the  destructive  tendencies  of  such 
a  prodigious  development  of  the  mere  material  ele- 
ments of  civilization.  It  must  gain  the  mastery, 
or  be  itself  thrown  off  and  crushed  beneath  the 
wheels  of  the  mighty  movement  by  which  the  world 
rushes  on  to  destruction. 

For,  let  merely  worldly-wise  statesmen  and 
pseudo-philosophers  dream  as  they  may,  no  paper 
constitutions,  no  bills  of  rights,  no  universal  suffrage 
ballot-boxes,  no  progress  of  science,  no  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge,  no  schemes  of  social  organization 
substituting  checks  and  counter-checks  of  selfishness 
for  the  law  of  love,  can  work  the  regeneration  of  the 
social  state,  and  make  individual  men  live  together 
\        as  brethren  ;  and  no  political  contrivances,  no  bal- 


ITS  HISTOKICAL  SIGNIFICANCE.  179 

ance-of-power  systems,  no  commercial  relations, 
can  effect  the  fraternization  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  bring  humanity  up  to  a  state  of  true 
social  perfectionment,  independently  of  those  more 
purely  moral  influences  which,  if  they  come  not 
from  Christianity,  cannot  be  looked  for  from  any 
other  source.  We  may  get  on  after  a  sort  ;  we  may 
get  on  for  a  long  time  to  come  ;  but  we  cannot  get 
well  on  in  the  best  sense,  and  in  the  long  run,  unless 
Christianity  becomes  a  true,  living  power,  incorpo- 
rated into  the  social  organization,  and  permeating 
the  historical  life  of  the  world.  Unless  this,  not 
only  shall  we  never  reach  the  true  perfection  of  the 
social  state,  but  we  shall  not  continue  to  get  on  in 
the  future  as  well  as  we  are  getting  on  now.  We 
shall  fall,  shattered,  from  the  heights  up  which  we 
are  urging  our  tremendous  way. 

Our  thoughts  have  carried  us  on  to  far  conclu- 
sions ;  but  they  are  such  as  spring  naturally  from  a 
consideration  of  the  true  historical  significance  of 
our  new  acquisitions  on  the  Pacific' — the  immense 
consequences  for  our  country  and  the  world  those 
acquisitions  involve.  And  if  our  thoughts  are  at 
all  just,  the  circumstances  under  which  those  terri- 
tories are  destined  to  be  filled  rapidly  up,  makes 


IM 


180  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

the  problem  of  our  future  fortunes  as  a  nation  in- 
finitely momentous.  The  foundations  of  new  states, 
of  a  new  social  order,  are  being  laid  there  What 
a  hell  upon  earth,  if  the  boundless  lust  of  gold 
be  unrestrained,  unsanctified  by  better  influences  ! 
Pandemonium  was  built  of  molten  gold.  By  the 
immense  significance,  the  world-embracing  issues 
that  depend  on  the  settlement  of  that  land  ;  by 
every  pulse  that  beats  for  our  country's  true  glory 
and  the  world's  true  welfare,  should  we  endeavor  to 
pour  the  highest  and  purest  moral  influences  into 
the  new-forming  life  that  is  to  spring  up  on  those 
shores.        /     '-X-      i  <-*  lO 


THE  PROYEDEICE  OF  GOD  THE  GEIflUS  OF  HUMAU 
HISTORY. 


THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD  THE  GENIUS  OF 
HUMAN  HISTORY. 


Europe  is  again  the  theatre  of  war* — a  war  of 
which  no  one  can  foresee  the  end  or  the  consequences. 
It  may  be  a  brief  struggle,  involving  only  the  pow- 
ers now  standing  in  actual  belligerent  position,  and 
ending  in  a  substantial  return  to  the  previous  state 
of  things.  It  may  be  a  prolonged  contest,  drawing 
into  it  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  arousing  a  series 
of  revolutionary  struggles  in  Poland,  Hungary,  Italy, 
and  Grermany,  and  terminating  in  a  vast  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  political  map.  It  may  lead  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  Turkish  Empire,  to  its  absorption  into 
the  overgrown  power  of  Russia,  or  to  its  partition 
among  several  powers.     It  may  lead  to  the  restora- 

*  Written  during  the  Crimean  campaign. 


184  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD 

tion  of  the  old  Greek  Empire,  with  consequences  of 
momentous  import  to  the  Eastern  Church  and  to 
the  re-establishment  of  the  old  Unity  of  the  Church 
Universal.  The  Almighty  alone  can  see  the  end 
from  the  beginning.  We  shall  not  busy  ourselves 
with  political  speculations  and  prophecies  which 
time  may  make  foolish.  Our  purpose  is  to  improve 
this  fitting  occasion  of  recalling  men's  minds  to  the 
consideration  of  certain  great  principles  much  left 
out  of  view,  but  which,  if  the  Bible  be  true,  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  and 
which  every  genuine  historical  philosopher  must 
recognize,  ]iot  merely  as  a  believer  in  the  Bible,  but 
because  they  are  principles  of  historical  philosophy. 
A  very  considerable  portion  of  the  Old  Sacred 
Books  is  taken  up  with  records  of  civil  and  political 
events  pertaining  to  the  Jewish  nation,  and  to  other 
nations  standing  in  historical  relations  with  the 
Jews.  But  these  sacred  records  are  distinguished 
from  all  other  historical  documents  in  two  respects  : 
first,  they  were  written  under  the  divine  direction 
and  guidance — were  traced  as  it  were  by  the  finger 
of  the  Most  High  ;  and  so  we  have  a  guaranty  for 
the  truth  and  accuracy  of  all  the  matters  of  fact  re- 
corded in  them,  such  as  we  have  not  in  any  othei 
histories ;  and  secondly,  they  contain  Divine  Com- 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  185 

mentaries  on  those  matters  of  historical  fact,  such 
as  no  other  histories  contain.  On  the  first  of  these 
points,  it  is  not  our  design  to  dwell.  For  the  pur- 
pose we  have  now  in  view,  it  may  be  conceded  that 
the  records  of  profane  history  are  sufficiently  accu- 
rate in  all  the  leading  facts  they  relate.  But  the 
second  point,  namely — that  the  sacred  books  give 
us  Divine  Commentaries  on  the  events  they  record 
— this  is  the  grand  and  most  important  peculiarity 
by  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  distinguished  from 
all  other  historical  documents. 

Uninspired  histories  do  not  indeed  limit  them- 
selves to  a  bare  recital  of  those  external  events  which 
mark  the  rise  and  progress,  the  decline  and  fall  of 
nations.  On  the  contrary,  historical  philosophy  (as 
it  is  called)  attempts  to  give  us  commentaries — to 
explain  the  interior  causes  and  consequences  by 
which  events  are  linked  together  in  their  outward 
and  visible  procession — to  give  us,  in  short,  the  inner 
spirit  and  life  of  history,  that  from  which  external 
events  derive  their  whole  significance  and  worth. 

But  this  historical  philosophy  is  merely  human, 
not  divine.  And  it  is  entirely  incompetent  to  a 
complete  solution  of  the  problem  it  attempts  to  solve. 
The  history  of  the  world  is  the  joint  product  of  two 
agencies :  the  one  human,  the  other  divine — the  one 
the  will  of  man,  the  other  the  Providence  of  Grod. 


186  THE  PKOVIDENCE  OP  GOD 

Now  when  philosopliical  historians  undertake  to 
explain  the  course  of  national  events   by  referring 
them  merely  to  human  agencies,  their  explanations 
must  be  not  only  defective  but  erroneous — defective, 
because  they  leave  altogether  out  of  view  one  great 
side  of  their  subject,  the  Providence  of  Grod,  namely, 
and  its  influence  and  purport ;  erroneous,  because 
they  cannot  rightly  explain  the  one  without  the 
other ;  they  cannot  interpret  the  human  element 
in  history  without  a  recognition  of  the  element  that 
is  divine.     In  point  of  truth,  the  idea  of  Divine 
Providence  is  the  primal  idea,  the  dominant  or  mas- 
ter idea,  and  contains  in  itself  the  key  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  world's  history,  both  in  respect  of 
its  human  element  as  weU  as  of  the  element  that  is 
divine. 

And  even  when  historical  philosophers  recognize 
both  elements  ;  when  they  attempt  to  explain  both 
the  agency  of  man  and  the  Providence  of  God  in 
the  course  of  events,  we  can  never  be  sure  their  in- 
terpretation is  correct.  Human  insight  is  limited 
and  fallible.  They  may  be  mistaken  in  their  ap- 
preciation of  the  human  agencies  by  which  the 
events  of  history  are  to  be  explained  ;  and  they  are 
still  more  liable  to  be  mistaken  in  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  divine  element,  the  Providence  of  God. 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  187 

They  may  recognize  the  idea  of  Divine  Providence 
as  being  even  the  primal  idea  for  the  solution  of  the 
world's  history,  and  yet  they  may  fail  in  the  actual 
application  of  the  idea.  Attempts  at  a  true  expla- 
nation of  events — reasonable  conjectures — probable 
interpretations, — this  seems  to  be  nearly  all  that 
historical  philosophy,  mere  human  insight,  unaided 
by  divine  instruction,  can  achieve. 

This,  then,  is  the  pre-eminent  distinction  of  the 
sacred  historical  records.  They  not  only  show  us 
the  visible  procession  of  outward  events,  but  they 
give  us  divinely  inspired  commentaries  which  cor- 
rectly interpret  to  us  the  whole  interior  connection, 
the  moral  causes  and  consequences,  the  true  char- 
acter and  purport  of  the  events  they  record. 

Look  at  the  civil  and  political  events  recorded 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  see  what  a  different  as- 
pect they  wear  in  the  light  of  these  divine  commen- 
taries, from  what  they  would  have  to  the  view  of 
mere  human  historical  philosophy.  What  is  it  that 
stands  out  most  clearly  and  impressively  in  these 
sacred  disclosures  ?  It  is,  in  the  first  place,  the 
perpetual  intervention  of  God  in  the  course  of  events, 
and  in  the  second  place,  a  constant  apportionment 
of  national  destiny  according  to  national  character 
and  conduct.     Of  these  two  points  the  sacred  books 


188  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD 

are  full  of  illustrations  ;  and  the  time  would  fail  for 
the  barest  reference  to  the  tenth  part  of  them. 
Sometimes  the  intervention  of  Grod  was  immediate 
and  visible,  miraculous  and  supernatural — as  in  the 
multitude  of  signs  and  wonders  that  marked  the  de- 
liverance of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  their  guid- 
ance through  the  desert,  and  their  establishment  in 
Palestine.  Sometimes  it  was  in  the  control  of  the 
secondary  agencies  of  nature,  working,  to  all  out- 
ward appearance,  according  to  their  ordinary  and 
familiar  laws,  and  in  overruling  the  consequences 
and  results  of  the  free  actions  of  men.  And  this  is 
the  kind  of  divine  intervention  which  it  is  most  to 
our  purpose  to  observe.  For  here  the  inspired  com- 
mentaries enable  us  to  see  what  otherwise  we  could 
not  see.  Behind  the  series  of  external  events, 
which  in  their  mere  outward  and  visible  procession 
appear  to  be  simply  the  result  of  ordinary  historical 
causes,  we  see  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  Sovereign 
of  the  universe,  now  touching  the  springs  of  human 
action,  now  permitting  or  now  thwarting  the  out- 
ward results  of  the  free  will  of  his  creatures,  and 
as  to  the  mere  physical  agencies  of  nature  swaying 
them  with  irresistible  grasp. 

To  take  an  instance  or  two  out  of  a  multitude 
that  go  to  illustrate  what  we  mean.     In  the  latter 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  189 

part  of  the  reign  of  David,  a  pestilence  broke  out 
among  the  people,  and  in  three  days'  time  carried 
off  seventy  thousand  men  ;  when  it  suddenly  and 
entirely  ceased.  Now  what  could  mere  ordinary 
history-writers  make  out  of  this,  except  to  record 
it  as  a  very  remarkable  event ;  or,  at  the  utmost, 
try  to  make  themselves  wise  by  queries  and  specu- 
lations about  the  physical  causes  of  such  a  fatal 
disease  so  suddenly  springing  up,  and  so  suddenly 
dying  out  ?  Yet  in  the  light  of  the  Divine  Com- 
mentary contained  in  the  inspired  record,  we  have 
the  explanation  of  it  as  an  intervention  of  God,  for 
the  discipline  of  the  nation. 

Again  :  In  the  book  of  Daniel  we  have  an  ac- 
count of  Nebuchadnezzar's  seven  years'  insanity 
— during  which  he  was  driven  from  his  throne, 
"  and  from  men,"  (either  as  it  was  in  reality  or  as 
appeared  to  him,)  ^'  and  did  eat  grass  as  the  oxen  ; 
and  his  body  was  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  till 
his  hairs  were  grown  like  eagles'  feathers,  and  his 
nails  like  birds'  claws."  What  would  ordinary  his- 
tory do  with  this  case,  but  merely  put  it  down  as  a 
remarkable  case  of  insanity,  or  talk  learnedly  about 
the  predisposing  and  exciting  causes  of  this  great 
monarch's  mental  alienation  ?  Yet  the  inspired 
commentary  teaches  us  it  was  a  special  interven- 


190  THE  PKOVIDENCE  OF  GOD 

tion  of  the  Most  Higli--a  judgment  upon  the  king 
for  the  greatness  of  his  pride — a  moral  discipline 
to  teach  him  "that  the  Most  High  ruleth  in  the 
kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever  He 
will."  And  we  are  told  that  it  had  this  effect, — 
that  it  humbled  him,  and  led  him  to  recognize,  "  to 
praise  and  honor  Him  that  liveth  forever,  whose 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  and  whose 
kingdom  is  from  generation  to  generation — before 
Whom  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed 
as  nothing — Whose  works  are  truth,  and  Whose 
ways  are  judgment ;  and  Who  is  able  to  abase  those 
that  walk  in  pride/'  A.nd  so  once  more  :  take  the 
case  of  Herod,  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. This  haughty  king  was  smitten  with  a  loath- 
some disease,  and  died  miserably  from  being  filled 
and  eaten  up  with  worms.  The  shocking  fact  is 
all  that  mere  human  history  could  record,  and 
some  medical  theory,  some  nosological  disquisition 
concerning  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  disease,  are 
all  that  merely  human  philosophy  could  contribute 
in  explanation  of  the  fact.  But  the  divine  com- 
mentary teaches  us  that  it  was  because  of  the  pride 
with  which  he  received  godlike  honors  from  men, 
and  "  gave  not  the  glory  to  God,''  to  whom  alone 
it  is  due. 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  191 

These  are  cases  in  which  the  inspired  word  dis- 
closes to  us  the  Providence  of  God,  interposing, 
with  a  special  moral  purpose,  in  events  which  to  all 
outward  appearance  are  the  mere  results  of  the  or- 
dinary laws  of  nature.  We  have  taken  them  not 
because  they  are  the  most  striking,  but  simply  be- 
cause they  are  cases  that  stand  singly,  and  could 
be  briefly  stated. 

But  to  see  this  truth — the  providential  inter- 
vention of  God  in  the  affairs  of  men,  and  the  moral 
principle  of  it  in  all  its  fulness  and  impressiveness, 
we  must  not  take  such  merely  isolated  cases,  we 
must  go  attentively  through  the  whole  divine  rec- 
ord of  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation.  There  we 
see  the  Most  High  disclosed — constantly  interven- 
ing— constantly  working  in  and  behind  the  visible 
procession  of  outward  events — through  all  the  al- 
ternations of  their  disasters  and  successes — their 
two  captivities  and  restorations  down  to  their  final 
subjugation  and  extinction  as  a  nation.  There  we 
have  the  history  of  a  nation's  rise  and  progress,  de- 
cline and  fall,  such  as  no  other  document  records. 
We  have  not  only  events — but  their  true  explana- 
tion. We  see  that  the  Providence  of  God  is  the 
key  to  the  story  of  their  fates  and  fortunes  as  a  na- 
tion ;  and  we  see  the  application  of  that  key  to  the 


192  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD 

explanation  of  all  tlie  significant  events  in  the  se- 
ries. We  see,  too,  that  their  national  destiny  is 
made  dependent,  under  Providence,  upon  their  na- 
tional conduct. 

And  it  is  to  be  observed,  too,  that  this  people 
not  only  brought  their  various  national  calamities 
upon  themselves,  but  all  in  the  most  ordinary  and 
natural  way.  There  was  nothing  miraculous,  noth- 
ing even  strange  or  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of 
human  causes  and  effects,  in  the  way  in  which  they 
were  subjugated  by  their  enemies,  oppressed,  car- 
ried captive,  and  finally  extinguished  as  a  nation. 
And  if  we  had  not  these  divine  commentaries,  we 
should  not  find,  in  the  mere  outward  historical 
events  of  Jewish  history,  any  more  reason  for  re- 
ferring the  rise  and  progress,  the  decline  and  fall  of 
this  nation  to  the  continual  intervention  and  over- 
ruling Providence  of  God,  than  in  the  history  of 
the  Macedonian  or  the  Koman  empires.  It  is  pre- 
cisely and  solely  because  we  have  the  special  light 
of  divine  revelation,  that  we  see  the  Hand  of  the 
Most  High  in  the  historical  records  of  the  sacred 
books  in  a  way  in  which  we  do  not  see  it  in  the 
records  of  the  history  of  the  world  at  large. 

And  now  the  question  that  comes  up  is  this : 
For  what  purpose  is  it  that  we  have  these  divine 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  193 

commentaries  ?  Is  it  merely  to  gratify  our  cu- 
riosity ?  Or,  is  it  to  teach  us  a  great  practical 
lesson  ?  Is  the  truth  which  these  divine  commen- 
taries disclose,  a  truth  only  with  relation  to  the 
Jewish  and  other  nations  whose  records  we  find  in 
the  sacred  books  ?  Or,  is  it  a  truth,  which  is  true 
for  all  nations  and  all  times  ?  That  is  the  ques- 
tion :  and  we  say  that  the  very  purpose  for  which 
these  historical  details  and  these  divine  commenta- 
ries are  handed  down  to  us,  is  to  teach  impressively 
for  all  nations  and  for  aU  times,  this  great  truth  : 
— that  tlie  Providence  of  God  is  the  Genius  of  hu^  I  \ 
man  history — that  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  Ruler 
of  the  universe  is  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  that  He  everywhere  apportions  national  destiny 
according  to  national  character.  If  we  had  divine 
commentaries  on  the  world's  whole  history,  such  as 
we  have  on  that  portion  of  it  contained  in  the  sa- 
cred records,  then  the  same  truth,  which  is  so  im- 
pressively taught  in  those  records,  would  appear 
with  equal  clearness  on  the  face  of  all  the  history 
of  the  world.  We  should  see  the  right  hand  of  the 
Almighty  in  all  the  fates  and  fortunes  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth — in  the  revolutions  of  dynas- 
ties, the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  the  wars  and  con- 
quests, battles  and  sieges,  famines  and  pestilences, 


194  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD 

negotiations  and  treaties,  with  which  the  pages  of 
history  are  filled.  We  should  see  it  in  the  reports 
that  come  to  us  weekly  across  the  ocean,  and  fill 
the  newspapers  of  our  eventful  day.  We  should 
see  the  Hand  of  the  Almighty  and  the  purpose  of 
the  Almighty  throughout  the  momentous  struggle 
that  has  begun  in  Europe.  We  should  have  not 
only  the  events,  but  their  true  historical  character, 
their  moral  significance,  their  causes  and  conse- 
quences set  before  us  in  a  way  that  would  put  to 
shame  the  wisdom  of  diplomatists  and  statesmen, 
and  turn  into  empty  and  foolish  pratings  the  com- 
mentaries of  the  public  press. 

But  because  we  have  not  these  divine  commen- 
taries on  the  whole  of  the  world's  history,  shall  we 
any  the  less  believe  the  great  truth  which  the  sa- 
cred records  teach  .?  Because  the  light  of  special 
inspiration  does  not  make  visible  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  moving  in  and  behind  the  visible  pro- 
cession of  events,  shall  we  any  the  less  believe  His 
hand  is  there  at  work  ?  No  :  we  are  as  much 
bound  to  believe  this  great  truth  is  true  for  every 
nation  on  the  earth  as  for  the  ancient  nations,  of 
whom  it  is  expressly  declared  in  the  sacred  books. 
We  are  as  much  bound  in  reason  to  believe  it  true 
in  reference  to  the  great  drama  of  political  history, 


THE  GENIUS  OF  HUMAN  HISTORY.  195 

that  now  seems  opening  on  tlie  earth,  as  though  we 
saw  it  supernaturally  written  by  the  finger  of  the 
Almighty,  in  characters  of  fire,  on  the  earth  and 
on  the  sky,  on  the  hills  and  on  the  clouds. 

And  finally,  we  are  not  to  believe  that  this  di- 
vine interposition  is  merely  for  the  sake  of  inter- 
position, nor  merely  in  the  way  of  retributive  judg- 
ment on  the  nations.  The  Almighty  presides  over 
the  fates  and  fortunes  of  the  nations,  each  in  their 
successive  epochs,  with  a  great  purpose  which  con- 
nects each  with  each  in  the  flow  of  the  great  ages  ; 
with  a  comprehensive  idea  to  be  realized  in  the 
whole  Historical  Life  of  Humanity,  and  in  the 
whole  History  of  the  Universe. 


YOUI(G  AMERICA-THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  PROGRESS. 


YOUNG    AMERICA— THE    TRUE    IDEA    OF 
PROGRESS. 


The  phrase  "  Young  America/'  has  become  one 
of  frequent  utterance  among  us.  The  wise  will  not 
regard  it  merely  as  a  phrase, — merely  as  desig- 
nating a  certain  number  of  ardent  young  men,  or 
a  certain  number  of  persons,  either  old  or  young. 
It  is  a  great  deal  more.  It  involves  ideas,  thoughts, 
sentiments,  instincts,  and  practical  tendencies  of 
the  gravest  significance  in  the  political  and  social 
sphere.  It  wiU  not  do  either  to  ignore  it  or  to 
scout  it.  It  suggests  something  to  be  well  consid- 
ered by  calm  and  thinking  men.  It  imposes  on 
them  a  duty  which  must  not  be  neglected  until  too 
late.  What  is  working  obscurely,  unreflectingly, 
in  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  age,  should  be  ana- 
lyzed and  made  clear.  What  is  right,  noble,  and 
salutary  in  it,  should  be  accepted,  greeted,  entered 


200  YOUNG  AMERICA  : 

into  with  hearty  sympathy.  What  is  superficial, 
mistaken,  dangerous,  should  be  signalized,  rectified, 
guarded  against.  All  honor  to  noble  impulses, 
while  we  watch  against  every  thing  that  may  de- 
feat or  mar  the  great  objects  to  which  they  prompt. 
The  Idea  of  a  Perfect  Social  State  is  a  neces- 
sity for  the  human  reason.  It  is  one  that  more  or 
less  obscurely  possesses  all  minds  ;  but  over  all  the 
nobler,  more  earnest  and  generous  minds  it  exerts 
a  powerful  domination.  Whether  or  not  it  is  in 
the  purposes  of  that  Divine  Providence,  which  is 
the  Genius  of  Human  History,  that  this  idea  shall 
ever  be  realized  in  the  actual  condition  of  the  hu- 
man race,  we  shall  not  undertake  to  determine. 
On  the  one  hand,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary ; 
men  may  successfully  solve  the  problem  of  their 
own  individual  destination  in  a  very  imperfect  state 
of  society.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  to  believe  in 
it,  to  desire  it,  to  hope  for  it,  is  the  impulse  and 
necessity  of  all  the  better  and  loftier  spirits  among 
men.  To  work  towards  its  accomplishment  is  the 
duty  of  every  man.  So  far  as  Young  America 
means  the  feeling  of  this  idea,  the  stirring  of  this 
impulse,  it  is  a  noble  and  sacred  thing.  Herein 
lies  the  only  ground  for  any  thing  respectable  in 
another  word   much   heard  among  us — the   word 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  PROGRESS.  201 

Progress.  Mere  progress  in  itself,  mere  going  for- 
ward, without  regard  to  the  end  to  be  reached,  is 
not  any  thing  admirable.  It  may  be  something 
very  terrible.  Make  any  word  a  watchword,  stirring 
with  electric  thrill  the  hearts  of  unreflecting  masses, 
and  rousing  them  to  action,  and  you  do  a  thing 
which  in  its  nature  and  results  should  be  well  con- 
sidered beforehand. 

Young  America  is  antagonistic.  It  opposes  it- 
self to  what  it  calls  "  Old  Fogyism/'  What  is 
that  ?  Is  it  a  dogged  adherence  to  old  abuses  ? 
A  dread  and  dislike  of  all  changes  ?  An  inability 
to  see  any  remedy  for  present  evils  but  in  a  return 
to  the  past  ?  Doubtless,  as  against  such  a  spirit, 
Young  America  is  in  the  right.  It  is  the  natural 
reaction  against  it.  Old  Fogyism  forgets  that  the 
past  can  never  be  reproduced  on  the  scene  of  the 
present.  If  it  could  be,  its  resurrection  would  be 
any  thing  but  desirable.  It  would  be  out  of  place, 
out  of  keeping — not  benignant. 

But  Young  America  needs  guard  itself,  lest  it 
go  (as  every  reaction  tends  to  go)  too  far.  It  must 
not  be  ignorant  of  the  past,  nor  despise  it,  much 
less  hate  it.  The  spirit  of  true  progress  is  an  or- 
ganizing, not  a  destroying  spirit.  It  is  a  spirit  of 
love,  not  of  hatred.  It  is  wise  and  reverent,  not 
9* 


202  YOUNG  AMERICA  : 

ignorant  and  arrogant.  Only  out  of  a  profound 
knowledge  of  tlie  past,  and  a  deep  sense  of  the 
wisdom  of  its  lessons,  can  come  the  right  guidance 
that  shall  safely  conduct  society  onwards  to  a  bet- 
ter future.  Human  history  proceeds  according  to 
living,  not  mechanical  laws.  Political  and  social 
ameliorations  can  never  be  accomplished  by  destroy- 
ing, by  pulling  down  the  old,  even  in  order  to  the 
reconstruction  of  something  new  and  better.  It  is 
not  an  affair  of  destruction  and  reconstruction.  It 
is  a  growth.  It  is  mainly  an  affair  of  unfolding — 
the  result  of  the  mutual  counterworking  of  forces 
which  are  vital,  not  dead.  The  old  historical  life 
of  humanity  must  not  be  regarded  as  standing  in 
no  relations,  much  less  in  relations  purely  hostile,  to 
the  life  of  the  present.  The  life  of  the  future  must 
be  the  continuation  of  the  life  of  the  past — invig- 
orated, purified,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  and  unfolding  it- 
self in  new  and  fresh  forms.  Young  America, 
therefore,  in  a  wise  and  right-hearted  fealty  to  its 
mission,  will  not  fall  into  the  error  of  setting  itself 
in  hostility  to  the  past,  as  if  it  were  something  to 
be  hated,  crushed,  extinguished.  It  will  not  arro- 
gantly claim,  as  its  own  exclusive  creation,  all  the 
germs  of  true  progress  it  discerns.  It  wiU  remem- 
ber that  the  great  heart  of  humanity  has  beaten 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OF  PROGRESS.        203 

the  same  in  every  age.  Every  age  lias  had  its  side 
of  true  and  right,  as  well  as  its  side  of  error  and 
wrong.  No  age  has  been  all  right,  or  all  wrong. 
Young  America  must  not  presume  itself  an  excep- 
tion to  the  universal  law.  It  must  not  take  for 
granted  that  it  is  all  right,  and  every  thing  else  all 
wrong.  It  must  not  imagine  there  is  no  truth  any-  * 
where  in  the  universe  but .  in  its  own  possession  ; 
that  there  is  no  possibility  of  its  falling  into  one- 
sidedness,  exaggeration,  error — and  that  through 
the  very  intensity  with  which  it  finds  itself  pos- 
sessed by  the  great  idea  of  the  age,  and  the  very 
strength  of  the  impulse  which  leads  it  to  protest 
against  all  that  seems  to  stand  in  opposition  to  it. 
It  must  learn  to  recognize  the  element  of  truth, 
and  the  element  of  error,  which,  in  their  blending, 
and  in  their  mutual  counteraction,  go  to  constitute 
the  actual  life — the  inner  spirit  of  every  historical 
epoch,  no  less  of  the  present  than  of  the  past ;  for 
herein  precisely  lie  the  conditions  of  the  true  pro- 
gress of  humanity. 

Young  America  must  therefore  beware  of  the 
dangers  incident  to  every  noble  attempt  to  give 
reality  to  great  political  and  social  ideas.  Ques- 
tions of  political  and  social  amelioration  are  emi- 
nently practical ;  and  there  is  not  one  lesson  which 


204  YOUNG  AMERICA  : 

history  enforces  with  such  tremendous  emphasis  as 
the  peril  of  proceeding  in  ignorance  or  in  disregard 
of  this  truth.  Push  an  abstract  idea  out  with 
reckless  absoluteness  into  practical  application ; 
ally  it  (as  in  such  a  case  it  will  most  surely  come 
to  be  allied)  with  the  frantic  fanaticism  of  human 
passions — and  you  may  produce  a  Keign  of  Terror, 
but  you  will  inaugurate  no  Age  of  Eeason.  "  The 
eternal  principle  of  Liberty  made  man,  seeking  to 
incarnate  itself  in  the  world  by  the  Kepublic  ! " — 
this  is  what  Young  America  proclaims  itself  to  be. 
How  much  that  is  glorious  in  idea  ;  how  much  that 
is  also  terrible  in  possibilities  of  evil,  these  words 
contain  !  Let  Young  America  guard  against  the 
perversion  of  the  idea  of  Liberty.  Let  it  beware 
of  Political  Absolutism.  Let  it  remember  that  no 
Absolutism,  democratic  any  more  than  monarchic, 
is  safe — that  pohtical  liberty  is  not  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  mere  will.  The  Almighty  claims  no 
such  supremacy. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  politics — the  science 
of  organizing  and  directing  the  powers  of  society 
foF  the  greatest  good  of  all,  is  eminently  a  practical 
science.  It  is  a  science  of  expediency.  All  its  de- 
terminations rest  on  the  practical  consideration  of 
consequences— provided   always,    of    course,    that 


THE  TRUE  IDEA  OP  PROGRESS.  205 

they  do  not  contradict  the  eternal  principles  of  jus- 
tice. That  is  best  in  politics  (however  it  may  look 
in  the  abstract)  which  actually  works  best ;  which 
best  secures  the  true  freedom,  the  just  rights  and 
the  real  well-being  of  a  nation.  To  uproot  what 
works  well,  merely  to  replace  it  with  something 
more  theoretically  perfect,  is  far  from  being  always 
wise. 

There  is  another  thing  to  be  avoided.  Ques- 
tions of  economical  policy  are  not  questions  of  po- 
litical principle,  and  should  never  be  confounded 
with  them,  still  less  should  the  passions  and  preju- 
dices of  the  people  be  enlisted  for  or  against  them 
by  any  such  misuse  of  words  as  puts  them  in  the 
same  category  with  the  great  and  sacred  principles 
of  right  and  justice.  For  instance  :  the  question 
of  Free  Trade  is  purely  economical.  It  has  no 
more  to  do  with  the  question  of  political  freedom, 
than  the  question  of  gas  or  oil  in  street-lighting  ; 
and  to  argue  it  (because  of  the  word  "  free  ")  as  if 
it  had,  is  absurd  and  mischievous.  Free  Trade 
may  be  a  democratic  policy  in  the  sense  of  happen- 
ing to  be  adopted  by  a  political  party  styling  itself 
the  Democratic  party.  But  that  there  is  any  thing 
which  makes  it  either  necessarily  or  exclusively 
democratic  in  principle  is  thoroughly  absurd.     The 


206  YOUNG  AMEKICA  : 

Englisli  would  laugh  the  pretension  to  scorn.  Yet 
Young  America  has  talked  in  this  foolish  way. 
We  signalize  it,  not  because  of  the  question  itself 
of  Free  Trade,  but  as  an  instance  illustrating  the 
wrong  of  confounding  questions  of  economical  pol- 
icy with  questions  of  political  principle.  What 
our  views  are  on  the  subject  of  Free  Trade  it  is  of 
no  consequence  for  our  readers  to  know. 

Finally,  let  Young  America  beware  of  becoming 
the  mere  tool  of  profligate  political  managers,  scram- 
bling for  the  spoils  of  office,  misusing  and  abusing 
all  the  great  ideas  and  sentiments,  instincts  and 
impulses  which  are  stirring  in  the  great  heart  of 
the  people,  into  a  miserable  machinery  for  selfish 
ends.  If  it  sinks  to  this,  our  interest  in  it  is  gone. 
Its  respectabihty,  its  title  to  the  sympathy  of  the 
wise  and  good  is  lost.  It  will  never  guide  the  com- 
ing age  in  the  path  of  true  Progress.  It  will  never 
help  inaugurate  the  era  of  Social  Perfectionment. 


THE  HISTORICAL  DESTINATION  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE. 


THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION    OF    THE 
HUMAN  RACE. 


Gentlemen  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical 
Society  : — It  would  perhaps  be  most  appropriate 
to  this  occasion  and  to  the  special  objects  of  this 
Society,  if  I  could  contribute  something  to  the 
illustration  of  the  history  of  New  Jersey.  But  this 
is  a  task  I  shall  not  presume  to  undertake.  New 
Jersey  has  indeed  a  history  of  which  her  sons  may 
well  be  proud — particularly  of  that  portion  of  it 
embraced  by  the  revolutionary  struggle  which  ac- 
complished the  independence  of  the  United  States. 
She  was  the  first  to  resolve  on  independence.  She 
was  the  second  to  comply  with  the  recommendation 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  to  establish  for 
herself  a  government  on  the  basis  of  a  constitution 
of  her  own  formation.  She  was  one  of  the  first  to 
enter  into  the  old  confederation  of  the  States,  un- 


210  THE   HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

der  whicli  the  war  of  Independence  was  conducted 
to  a  successful  issue.  She  adopted  promptly,  and 
with  remarkable  unanimity,  the  present  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  During  the  war  of  the 
Kevolution  her  patriotism  was  pre-eminent,  and 
her  contributions  to  the  pecuniary  expenditures  of 
the  contest  greatly  exceeded  her  own  proportionable 
share.  Her  soil  was  long  the  theatre  of  contending 
armies,  and  her  sufferings  from  this  cause  were  very 
great.  Within  her  bounds  some  of  the  most  in- 
teresting operations  of  the  war  took  place.  At 
Monmouth  and  at  Princeton  the  enemy  were 
worsted ;  and  here  at  Trenton,  where  we  are  now 
assembled,  the  tide  of  the  war  was  undoubtedly 
turned. 

But  I  will  not  impertinently  take  up  your  time 
with  a  rehearsal  of  what  is  probably  more  familiar 
to  you  than  to  myself  Nor  will  I  attempt  to  cast 
any  new  light  upon  the  history,  or  upon  any  partic- 
ular portion  of  the  history,  of  the  State.  The 
original  sources  of  this  history,  as  they  exist  either 
in  public  archives  or  in  private  collections,  have  not 
been  within  my  reach  ;  and  if  they  had  been,  the 
pressure  of  many  engagements  since  I  had  the 
honor  of  the  invitation  to  appear  before  you,  would 
have  left  me  no  time  to  go  into  such  an  investiga- 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  211 

tion  of  them  as  alone  could  yield  any  results  en- 
titled to  be  presented  here. 

In  the  inability  therefore  to  make  any  contribu- 
tion of  original  value  to  the  history,  or  materials 
for  the  history  of  New  Jersey,  I  propose  to  occupy 
the  hour  with  some  considerations  of  a  more  gen- 
eral natiire,  bearing  upon  the  great  problem  of  the 
History  of  Humanity  at  large,  and  the  ultimate 
Destination  of  the  Human  Kace. 

I  am  the  more  led  to  this  because  the  idea  of 
the  historical  Progress  of  the  Human  Kace,  which 
in  itself,  and  at  all  times,  presents  a  theme  of  the 
deepest  interest,  has  of  late  taken  a  strong  hold  of 
many  thoughtful  minds,  and  been  the  subject  of 
much  discussion,  more  or  less  profound ;  and  it  is 
a  subject  which,  to  be  rightly  treated,  should  be 
considered  not  merely  in  its  external  aspects,  whether 
material  or  political,  but  from  a  higher,  more  com- 
prehensive and  rational  point  of  view.  The  con- 
sideration of  it  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  Phi- 
losophy of  Humanity,  rather  than  to  the  History 
of  it.  If  we  accept  the  distinction  thus  intended 
to  be  made,  then  doubtless  we  must  affirm  that  as 
there  is  a  History  of  Humanity — of  the  Human 
Kace  as  a  whole  during  all  time — so  there  must  be 
a  Philosophy  of  it.     But  both  are  necessary,  each 


212  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

to  the  other ;  and  only  in  the  union  of  both  can 
our  knowledge  become  true  science.  In  fact  there 
can  be  no  true  History  of  Humanity  which  is  not 
philosophical ;  and  no  true  Philosophy  of  Human- 
ity which  is  not  historical.  The  true  History  of 
Humanity  is  something  more  than  annals  of  out- 
ward events ;  the  true  Philosophy  of  it  is  some- 
thing more  than  abstract  speculations. 

The  problem  of  the  Historical  Life  of  the  Hu- 
man Kace  upon  the  earth  is  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  greatest  problems  with  which  human  thought 
can  grapple.  But  there  is  this  peculiar  difficulty 
attending  the  attempt  to  solve  it :  that  which  we 
would  explain  is  yet  incomplete,  is  but  partially 
before  us.  The  biography  of  the  plant,  of  the  ani- 
mal, or  of  an  individual  man,  may  lie  before  our 
eyes,  written  out  in  actual  completeness  from  the 
first  germinal  unfolding  to  the  close  of  life.  Now 
History  in  its  large  sense  is  to  the  Human  Race 
as  a  whole,  what  Biography  is  to  individual  man. 
"  Humanity  is  the  Man  of  History."  But  this  is 
a  biography  which  cannot  be  written — neither  now, 
nor  at  any  future  period — until  the  world's  histori- 
cal life  has  reached  its  term.  That  life  is  yet  in 
its  flow ;  and  we,  who  would  calculate  its  course 
and  its  end,  pronounce  upon  its  significance,  and 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE. 


213 


sum  up  its  character  as  one  great  whole,  are  in 
the  midst  of  it  ourselves,  flowing  onward  in  the 
stream  of  the  ages.  The  Past  is  behind  us  ;  the 
Present  is  around  us  ;  the  Future  lies  undeveloped 
before  us. 

Standing  thus  in  the  midst  of  the  ages,  how 
can  we  explain  the  Past,  comprehend  the  Present, 
and  forecast  the  Future  ?  Are  we  not  like  com- 
mon soldiers  on  the  battle-field,  ignorant  of  the 
commander's  plan  of  action,  and  if  we  were  not, 
yet  incapable  from  our  position  to  get  such  a  view 
as  would  enable  us  to  understand  what  has  taken 
place,  what  is  going  on,  and  what  is  likely  to  be 
the  issue  of  the  fight  ?  This  no  doubt  is  partly 
true.  Yet  we  are  not  altogether  like  common  sol- 
diers on  the  battle-field.  We  are  also  spectators 
of  the  course  of  events  ;  and  in  the  necessary  con- 
victions of  reason,  in  the  light  of  some  communi- 
cations from  the  Highest  source,  and  in  the  signifi- 
cance which  the  progress  of  events — both  of  itself 
and  through  the  light  that  is  cast  upon  it  from 
above — has  already  begun  to  assume,  we  have  some 
grounds  for  a  philosophical  criticism  of  the  History 
of  Humanity,  of  the  Human  Race  as  a  whole,  not 
collectively  at  any  one  period,  but  in  the  successive 
flow  of  generations  and  ages,  throughout  the  whole 


214  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

duration  of  the  world's  historical  life.  We  must 
not  indeed  take  our  limited  faculties  as  the  organ 
of  perfect  insight.  We  must  not  erect  our  finite 
judgment  into  an  absolute  standard.  But  we  may- 
know  enough  to  make  us  understand  how  that 
which  seems  confused  and  aimless  may,  in  a  higher 
and  wider  view,  have  clearness  and  purpose,  that 
which  seems  stationary  or  retrograde  may  yet  he 
in  progress  to  its  destined  end.  In  short,  we  may 
reverently  attempt  to  form  a  judgment  that  shall 
embrace  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future--- 
that  shall  explain  the  historical  destination  of  the 
human  race. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  which  would  nat- 
urally suggest  itself  to  our  minds — if  we  consider 
the  nature  and  capacities  of  man — is  the  Develop- 
ment of  Humanity  to  its  Ideal  Perfection — which 
again  can  be  rightly  and  worthily  conceived  only  as 
the  perfection  of  a  true  Rational  Life — a  life  of 
Moral  Freedom,  of  self-subjection  to  the  law  of 
duty — a  life  of  goodness,  of  justice  and  love.  In 
this,  and  in  nothing  else,  according  to  the  absolute 
determinations  of  reason,  does  the  true  perfection 
of  nations  as  well  as  of  individuals  consist,  and  in 
the  Advancement  of  Humanity  towards  this  ideal 


OF   THE   HUMAN    RACE.  215 

is  the  only  just  and  worthy  conception  of  Human 
Progress. 

This  idea  of  a  perfect  social  state  is  indeed  only 
one  form  of  that  idea  of  perfection  which  gives  the 
law  to  all  human  thinking  and  striving.  Ever 
stirring  in  the  soul  of  man,  more  or  less  consciously 
and  clearly  in  proportion  to  the  development  of 
reason,  is  the  conception  of  something  more  perfect 
than  any  thing  we  see  or  know — an  ideal  of  which 
all  that  the  world  calls  true,  and  beautiful,  and 
good,  are  but  inadequate  expressions — an  ideal 
which  yet,  by  the  necessity  of  his  reason,  man  is 
incessantly  prompted  and  impelled  to  express,  to 
make  real,  both  in  the  sphere  of  nature  and  of  ra- 
tional life.  The  philosopher,  seeking  to  make 
knowledge  science,  by  penetrating  beneath  the  ever- 
fleeting  phenomena  to  the  substantial  ground  of  ab- 
solute truth  ;  the  artist,  working,  by  forms,  or  col- 
ors, or  tones,  or  winged  words,  to  express  the  beau- 
tiful ;  the  saint,  striving  to  realize  in  the  moral 
sphere,  in  his  own  personal  life,  the  ideal  of  good- 
ness ;  all  evince  the  domination  of  this  idea  and 
this  impulse.  Hence  it  is  not  strange  that  the  idea 
of  a  better,  more  perfect  social  state  should  an- 
nounce itself  in  every  age   of  the  world — in  the 


216  THE    HISTOKICAL    DESTINATION 

traditions  of  the  past,  of  a  primeval  age  of  inno- 
cence and  bliss,  and  in  the  visions  of  a  future  reign 
of  righteousness  and  peace,  to  which  the  mind  and 
heart  of  humanity,  dissatisfied  with  the  imperfec- 
tion of  the  actual  state  of  things,  has  ever  turned 
for  solace  and  for  hope. 

How  profoundly  this  idea  of  a  perfect  common- 
wealth has  stirred  the  best  and  noblest  minds  in 
every  age,  from  Plato  to  Milton  and  Harrington, 
to  Fenelon  and  St.  Simon.  It  has  inspired  the 
song  of  the  poet,  the  thought  of  the  sage,  the 
prayer  of  the  devout,  the  hope  of  the  believer,  and 
the  labors  of  the  philanthropist,  of  statesmen  and 
legislators,  planters  of  colonies  and  founders  of 
states.  In  short,  all  human  history  reveals  the 
power  of  this  idea  and  this  impulse — and  that  in 
spite  of  the  follies  and  crimes  with  which  the  an- 
nals of  the  world  are  filled,  often  indeed  precisely 
in  and  through  those  follies  and  crimes,  as  mistakes 
and  perversions  of  the  true  idea,  as  blind  workings 
of  the  impulse.  All  history  is  the  history  of  hu- 
man strivings  after  a  better,  higher,  more  perfect 
social  state.  Its  actual  realization  in  the  world,  in 
individuals  and  in  society,  in  nations  and  states, 
and  in  their  relations  to  each  other,  would  be  the 
regeneration  of  human  society,  the  fraternization 


OF    THE   HUMAN    RACE.  217 

of  the  nations,,  and  the  pacification  of  the  world. 
Wars  and  crimes  would  cease,  and  with  the  moral 
nearly  all  the  physical  evils  of  human  life  would 
disappear.  It  would  be  the  inauguration  of  the 
Age  of  Keason,  in  the  true  and  noble  sense  of  those 
much  abused  words. 

But  is  humanity  destined  ever  to  reach  this 
perfection  of  the  social  state  during  the  world's 
historical  lifetime  ?  The  Age  of  Eeason — will  it 
ever  actually  arrive  ?  The  millennial  reign  of  uni- 
versal justice  and  love,  brotherhood  and  peace, 
which  every  good  heart  that  believes  in  a  good  God 
is  so  fain  to  cling  to — will  it  ever  be  established  on 
the  earth  ? 

This  is  a  great  question.  Let  us  venture  to 
look  it  in  the  face.  Let  us  see  what  and  how  much 
there  is  to  justify  the  absolute  unqualified  affirma- 
tion it  so  often  receives. 

In  the  first  place,  the  theoretical  possibility  of 
the  development  of  humanity  to  a  state  of  social 
perfection  cannot  be  denied.  It  lies  in  the  rational 
constitution  of  man.  Keason  in  man  is  the  germ 
of  a  rational  human  life,  as  in  individuals,  so  in 
nations  and  in  the  community  of  nations.  What- 
ever is  possible  may  become  actual.  Whatever 
10 


218  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

lies  in  germ  may,  under  its  proper  conditions,  be 
unfolded.  It  is  a  perfection  which  may  not  indeed 
be  actually  attainable  to  the  full  extent  of  the  ab- 
solute ideal ;  for  the  most  perfect  individual  must 
still  in  this  life  at  least  be  an  imperfect  creature, 
and  the  highest  perfection  of  the  social  state  can 
never  rise  higher  than  the  highest  perfection  of  the 
individuals  that  at  any  time  compose  the  collective 
whole  of  the  human  race  upon  the  earth.  But  as 
there  are  degrees  of  saintly  excellence  which  may 
be  realized  by  every  individual  within  his  sphere, 
and  which  are  measurably  realized  by  some  in  ac- 
tual attainment,  so  there  is  a  degree  of  social  per- 
fection which  may  properly  be  considered  as  a  sat- 
isfactory proximate  realization  of  the  absolute  ideal, 
and  which  must  be  admitted  to  be  theoretically 
possible  for  humanity  as  a  whole. 

But  what  positive  guaranty  for  its  actual  reali- 
zation does  this  afford  ?  In  the  life  of  Nature  not 
every  thing  possible  becomes  for  that  reason  actual 
— not  every  germ  unfolds  itself  to  the  perfection 
of  its  normal  life.  On  the  contrary,  observation 
shows  us  numberless  cases  of  abortive  attempt  and 
failure.  To  this  it  is  obvious  to  reply  :  that  though 
multitudes  of  living  germs  in  nature  perish — in 
germ,  and  in  every  stage  of  development,  yet  these 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE.  219 

are  individual  cases,  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  ; 
that  on  the  whole — in  the  large  view  of  its  orders, 
species,  races — ^the  life  of  Nature  is  not  an  abortion 
and  a  failure  of  its  proper  end.  Can  we  then  sup- 
pose that  the  higher  Kfe  of  Humanity  is  not  des- 
tined to  attain  its  normal  development  ?  Must  we 
not  regard  the  capacity  of  man  for  social  perfec- 
tionment  as  a  guaranty  for  its  actual  attainment  ? 

This  might  be  held  conclusive,  if  the  rational 
perfectionment  of  human  society  depended  upon  no 
conditions  different  in  kind  from  those  of  the  life 
of  Nature  ;  and  even  notwithstanding  the  essential 
difference  between  nature  zxA  free-will^  if  human- 
ity had  no  destination  beyond  this  world,  the  anal- 
ogy of  the  universe  might  lead  us  to  expect  that 
human  society  would  in  some  way  and  some  time 
here  in  this  world  reach  its  normal  perfection  ;  al- 
though the  problem  of  human  existence  would  then 
in  other  and  higher  aspects  become  a  dark  insolva- 
ble  enigma — of  which  I  will  hereafter  more  partic- 
ularly speak. 

But  admit  the  idea  of  another  world,  and  all 
sense  of  moral  contradiction  is  removed,  even 
though  humanity  never  attain  to  a  perfect  social 
state  on  the  earth.  Eeason  may  then  be  regarded 
as  the  germ  of  a  truly  rational  social  state,  which 


220  THE    HISTOKICAL   DESTINATION 

is  destined  to  have  its  ultimate  realization  ;  but 
that  realization,  as  for  individuals,  so  for  humanity 
as  a  whole,  may  be  accomplished  in  a  supermun- 
dane eternal  sphere  ;  and  so  from  the  capacity  and 
theoretical  possibility  it  is  not  necessary  to  infer  its 
actual  realization  in  this  world. 

In  like  manner,  again,  with  respect  to  the  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  the  idea  of  a  perfect  social 
state  and  of  the  impulse  to  realize  it.  It  indicates 
undoubtedly  the  goal,  it  propounds  the  law  of  hu- 
man endeavor,  the  end  towards  which  humanity 
may  and  should  indefinitely  advance.  But  does 
this  in  itself  prove  that  it  will  ever  be  actually 
reached  in  this  world  ?  If  both  for  individuals  and 
for  humanity  as  a  whole,  there  be  a  destination  to 
a  life  beyond  the  world — and  this  can  never  be  dis- 
proved— then  the  earthly  history  of  humanity  en- 
ters into  the  history  of  humanity  in  another  sphere  ; 
and  the  highest  destination  of  the  human  race  may 
be  realized  there,  and  that  end  may  be  subserved 
by  the  very  fact  that  the  earthly  history  of  human 
society  is  a  history  of  perpetual  unsatisfied  striv- 
ings after  a  more  perfect  state  ;  and  so  it  is  not 
necessary,  in  order  to  a  rational  explanation  of 
man's  earthly  destination,  to  suppose  that  the  so- 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE.  221 

cial  perfection,  for  whicli  he  is  by  the  law  of  his 
nature  perpetually  to  strive,  must  be  actually  re- 
alized during  the  lifetime  of  humanity  on  the 
globe — however  much,  as  to  the  rest,  we  may  be 
naturally  and  reasonably  led  to  hope  or  to  expect 
that  the  history  of  the  world  will  in  a  large  and 
complete  view  disclose  itself  as  an  actual  progress 
towards  it. 

Again  :  does  the  actual  history  of  mankind  thus 
far  warrant  any  confident  prediction  that  human 
society  will  ever  reach  its  normal  possible  perfec- 
tion during  the  lifetime  of  the  world  ?  I  exclude 
now  all  reference  to  whatever  Divine  ideas  and  in- 
terventions human  history  does  or  may  hereafter 
disclose,  or  to  any  Divine  purpose  which  may 
thereby  be  ultimately  accomplished.  I  speak  now 
only  of  the  actual  progress  which  the  history  of 
human  efforts  to  perfect  itself  in  society  discloses. 
And  I  say  that  after  four  thousand  years  of  human 
strivings,  humanity,  neither  as  a  whole,  nor  in  any 
single  state  or  nation,  presents  the  spectacle  of  so- 
ciety advanced  to  a  true  rational  state,  nor  to  any 
such  degrees  of  it  as  measurably  to  satisfy  the  de- 
mands of  reason  or  the  wishes  of  the  heart,  or  to 
contain  the  certain  promise  of  a  better  future. 


222  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

I  will  not  go  over  the  old  story  of  four  thousand 
years — the  rise,  the  culmination,  the  decline,  decay 
and  dissolution  of  states  and  empires.  I  take  my 
stand  in  the  present  time.  I  admit  every  thing  that 
any  one  chooses  to  allege  respecting  the  mighty  dif- 
ference between  the  present  and  the  past — the 
changes,  the  progress,  the  improvement — and  then 
I  ask :  what  is  the  present  state  of  the  world  ? 
Human  society  is  seen  in  its  brightest  aspects  in 
Europe  and  in  America.  A  high  degree  of  what 
we  call  civilization  prevails  in  most  of  the  states 
and  nations  of  these  continents — and  also  in  some 
of  the  colonies  established  by  them  in  other  parts 
of  the  world,  chiefly  by  the  English  people.  The 
rest  of  mankind  is  but  partially  civilized ;  some 
tribes  and  peoples  are  yet  in  the  barbarous  or  in  the 
savage  state.  Barbarism  and  savageism  have,  how- 
ever, nearly  disappeared ;  and  at  no  very  remote 
period  will,  in  all  probability,  entirely  disappear, 
through  historical  causes  now  at  work,  and  whose 
force,  direction  and  results  we  can  pretty  well  esti- 
mate ;  so  that  in  a  century  or  two,  (provided  mean- 
while no  old  civilization  falls  to  pieces,)  the  whole 
world  may  be  civilized.  But  what  then  ?  The 
highest  civilization,  in  the  proper  ordinary  mean- 
ing of  the  term — the  highest  civilization,  so  far  from 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE.  223 

being  a  guaranty  for  continual  progress,  does  not 
contain  in  itself  the  securities  for  its  own  conserva- 
tion and  continuance,  but  on  the  contrary  carries 
in  its  own  bosom  tbe  seeds  of  dissolution  and  de- 
cay. The  practical  demonstration  of  this  truth 
lies  in  the  history  of  the  past.  And  apart  from 
this,  it  is  obvious  in  itself  that  the  highest  state  of 
mere  civilization  neither  constitutes  nor  implies 
that  true  rational  state  of  society,  in  which  alone 
the  perfection  of  the  social  state  consists.  A  true 
rational  society — a  society  in  which  the  spirit  of 
rational  freedom  or  self-subjection  to  the  law  of 
duty,  the  spirit  of  justice  and  love,  prevails — may 
be  and  will  be  a  highly  and  truly  civilized  society  ; 
but  a  highly  civilized  society,  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word,  is  not  necessarily  a  rational  society. 

Consider  this  point.  There  is,  I  humbly  think, 
a  great  liability  to  delusion,  in  much  that  is  said 
nowadays  about  the  marvellous  progress  of  the 
age,  and  the  glories  of  its  civilization.  Look  at  it, 
then,  in  its  highest  forms.  Take  London.  Take 
Paris.  Take  our  own  New  York.  It  is  precisely 
to  such  places,  and  nowhere  else,  that  you  are  to 
look,  if  you  would  see  what  the  highest  actual  civ- 
ilization is,  and  how  much  it  has  accomplished 
towards  perfecting  the  social  state.     Look  sharply, 


224  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

then,  at  the  spectacle  which  this  civilization  pre- 
sents. What  do  you  there  see  ?  You  see  there 
the  greatest  concentration  and  the  freest,  most 
diversified  play  of  human  energies  and  activities 
of  every  kind.  There  the  greatest  wealth — the 
greatest  abundance  of  the  means  of  physical  ease 
and  comfort.  There,  too,  the  greatest  social  pol- 
ish and  the  highest  culture.  There  flourish  phi- 
losophy, science,  art,  letters,  industries.  There  no- 
ble virtues  and  much  of  the  beautiful  happiness  of 
a  pure  and  right  life.  Undoubtedly.  But  there, 
also,  the  greatest  proportionable  prevalence  of  vice 
and  crime,  and  the  misery  of  an  evil  life.  There 
the  greatest  refinement  of  luxurious  enjoyment,  side 
by  side  with  the  greatest  proportionable  amount  of 
want  and  destitution.  There  gorgeous  equipages, 
with  glittering  appointments,  soft  rolling  side  by 
side  with  shivering,  ill-clad  beggars,  whom  civilized 
language,  noticeably  enough,  terms  mendicants. 
There  gilded  palaces,  purple  and  fine  linen  and 
sumptuous  fare,  soft  music,  mirth  and  elegant  rev- 
elry— and,  not  far  off,  starvation  in  rags,  sunk  and 
crowded  down  into  damp  cellars,  or  stowed  and 
packed  up  under  sharp-roofed  garrets. 

Here  is  civilization  in  its  highest  actual  state. 
Here  you  see  all  and  the  utmost  that  the  civiliza- 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  225 

tion  of  the  age  has  done  to  perfect  the  social  state. 
Look  at  the  picture  then.  Does  it  present  the 
type  of  humanity  advanced  to  the  perfection  of  the 
social  state  ?  Does  it  satisfy  the  demands  of  rea- 
son, or  the  wishes  of  the  good  heart  ?  Is  it  a  ra- 
tional state  of  society  ?  No,  I  answer.  No.  It 
is  a  thousand  million  miles  away  from  it.  And  if 
such  a  civilization  were  spread  all  over  the  globe, 
the  spectacle  would  be  very  far  from  satisfying  the 
wise  and  good  man,  either  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  present  or  in  the  prospect  of  the  future.  On 
the  contrary,  the  progressive  development  of  such 
a  civilization  in  the  same  line,  would  he  the  intensi- 
fication of  all  the  irrational  aspects  it  now  presents 
— wealth  more  and  more  regarded  as  the  great  good 
and  the  limits  to  its  desire  and  pursuit  more  and 
more  extended,  with  a  corresponding  increase  in  the 
strength  of  the  temptations  to  frauds,  dishonesties 
and  other  wrongs  and  crimes  peculiarly  incident  to 
such  a  state  of  society — and,  with  the  increase  of 
wealth,  a  greater  and  greater  increase  in  the  num- 
ber, variety  and  ingenious  refinements  of  luxurious 
enjoyment  and  gratifications  of  vanity  and  worldly 
pride — and,  by  the  inevitable  laws  of  such  a  civili- 
zation, all  this  tending,  not  to  equalize  among  the 
laboring  masses  the  conditions  of  comfort  and  wel- 
10* 


226  THE   HISTOEICAL   DESTINATION 

fare^  but  to  make  the  poor  poorer,  and  more  poorly 
off  in  physical  comforts,  in  the  leisure  and  means 
for  rational  development  and  true  domestic  life, 
and  so  to  increase  the  causes  of  degradation  and 
the  temptations  to  vice  and  crime. 

Besides :  the  perfection  of  human  society  on  the 
earth  implies  not  only  the  advancement  of  individ- 
uals and  communities,  but  also  of  nations  and  the 
community  of  nations,  to  a  true  rational  life.  It 
implies  the  pacification  of  the  world,  the  union  of 
the  nations  in  a  true  brotherhood  of  justice,  love 
and  peace.  But  if  mere  civilization  does  not  and 
cannot  make  individual  men  in  society  live  together 
as  brethren,  how  is  it  to  effect  the  pacification  of 
the  world  .?  The  widest  extension  of  commercial 
relations  is  no  certain  guaranty  for  the  universal 
reign  of  peace,  though  it  tends  that  way.  But  as 
in  the  past,  so  in  the  future,  there  is  no  security 
against  collisions  of  interest ;  and  ambition,  pride 
and  passion  may  still  be  stronger  than  the  dictates 
of  prudence  and  enlightened  self-love.  With  all 
its  progress,  all  its  superiority,  the  civilization  of 
our  century — which  flatters  itself,  as  Carlyle  says, 
that  it  is  the  nineteenth — has  not  protected  the 
fairest,  the  most  civilized  portions  of  the  world  from 
the  scourge  of  bloody  and  desolating  wars  spring- 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE.  227 

ing  from  oppositions  of  material  interests  or  the 
mad  ambition  of  sovereigns.  During  the  early 
years  of  this  period  what  scenes  of  carnage  and  de- 
vastation, what  millions  of  human  lives  sacrificed 
on  the  battle  field,  what  orphanage  and  heart- 
breaking sorrow  in  millions  of  homes — all  to  grat- 
ify the  boundless  selfishness  of  the  most  heartless 
egotist  the  world  ever  saw  !* 

Nor  did  the  downfall  of  that  great  disturber  of 
the  world  bring  permanent  peace.  Europe  has 
since  then  been  repeatedly  the  theatre  of  bloody 
battles  ;  while  the  late  Mexican  war  has  proved  that 
the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been 
no  more  a  security  fpr  peace  on  this  than  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Ocean.  And  we  have  no  reason 
to  suppose  it  will  be  on  either  side  a  security  in  the 
future  more  than  in  the  past.f  I  am  not  saying 
whether  or  not  these  recent  wars  are  just  and  ne- 
cessary according  to  the  common  way  of  judging. 

*  In  the  preface  to  Abbott's  Life  of  Napoleon,  we  are  told  "  the 
writer  admires  Napoleon  because  he  abhorred  war!"  What  to 
think  of  the  man,  pretending  to  be  an  historian,  who  could  say 
that  ?  What  to  think  of  him — an  American,  too — who  could  call 
Napoleon  "  the  Washington  of  France  ?  "  At  any  rate  it  is  blas- 
phemy of  the  "  Father  of  his  country." 

f  With  the  recollection  of  Magenta  and  Solferino  still  fresh  in 
mind,  it  is  unnecessary  now,  in  1860,  to  remind  the  reader  how  soon 
what  was  written  in  1855  found  its  justification. 


228  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

I  am  only  urging  the  undeniable  fact  that  civiliza- 
tion in  itself  is  no  guaranty  for  the  abolition  of  the 
custom  of  war,  no  security  against  the  perpetual 
recurrence  of  the  spectacle  of  human  beings  coming 
together  by  thousands,  and  hundreds  of  thousands, 
to  butcher  each  other — a  spectacle  which  I  say  is 
a  million  miles  away  from  being  a  rational  specta- 
cle, or  a  spectacle  compatible  with  the  idea  of  hu- 
man society  even  measurably  advanced  to  a  truly 
rational  state.  Not  until  wars  cease  will  human- 
ity have  advanced  to  the  perfection  of  its  social 
life.  Not  until  then  the  Age  of  Keason.  Not 
until  then  the  Millennium.  This  no  world-wide 
spread  of  our  present  nineteenth  century  European 
and  American  civilization,  and  no  intensification  of 
its  present  elements  and  powers  in  the  future,  can 
ever  accomplish. 

But  the  progress  of  Civil  Liberty  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  Free  Institutions,  is  much  relied  on 
as  a  ground  of  hope  for  the  regeneration  of  society. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  ideas  of  popular  rights, 
and  the  disposition  to  demand  free  institutions,  are 
gaining  prevalence  in  many  parts  of  the  old  world. 
It  may  be  that  the  despotic  governments  of  Europe 
are  destined,  at  no  distant  day,  to  fall  shattered  to 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  229 

pieces,  in  the  shock  of  ideas  coming  face  to  face, 
or  to  be  gradually  replaced  by  freer  forms,  through 
the  transforming  force  of  prevailing  opinion.  One 
thing,  however,  is  certain  :  free  governments  can 
never  get  themselves  permanently  established  by 
being  put  upon  the  people  even  by  the  people  them- 
selves, but  only  by  springing  up  from  within,  from 
the  inner  life  of  the  people.  Europe  is  not  pre- 
pared for  self-government.  Italy  not  yet  fully.  Nor 
France.  Other  countries  still  less.  But  it  may 
be  that  democratic  ideas  will  spread  and  take  root 
more  and  more  in  the  heart  of  the  coming  age,  and 
it  may  be  they  are  destined  to  realize  themselves  in 
the  governments  of  Europe,  and  ultimately  of  the 
rest  of  the  world,  through  the  immense  and  every 
day  increasing  influence  of  Europe  and  -of  the 
United  States. 

But  what  then  ?  Suppose  this  accomplished — 
the  preliminary  conditions  fulfilled,  the  requisite 
training  gone  through  with,  and  the  same  degrees 
also  of  civilization  attained  as  we  have  reached — 
and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  be  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  free  governments,  civil  and  political  insti- 
tutions modelled  after  the  pattern  of  our  own. 
What  then  ?  Would  the  moral  evils  peculiarly 
incident  to  a  high  artificial  civilization,  would  the 


230  THE   HISTOKICAL   DESTINATION 

physical  evils  resulting  from  the  inevitable  working 
of  its  economical  laws,  be  done  away  ?  No :  no 
more  then,  than  in  our  own  country  now.  Would 
the  world  present  the  spectacle  of  humanity  ad- 
vanced to  a  true  rational  life  ?  Would  it  contain 
the  guaranties  for  the  continual  progress  of  human- 
ity in  the  line  of  rational  development  ?  Would 
it  even  contain  the  securities  for  its  own  conserva- 
tion ?  No  :  no  more  in  the  world  at  large,  than  in 
our  own  country  now. 

Besides  :  the  tendency  of  democratic,  as  of  all 
other  power,  is  to  absolutism.  We  see  it  in  our 
land.  But  democratic  absolutism  is  not  necessarily 
any  more  rational  or  beneficent  in  its  workings  than 
monarchic  or  oligarchic  absolutism.  If  not  in- 
formed and  actuated  by  wisdom  and  virtue,  it  is 
more  dangerous  and  disastrous — of  which  truth 
history  gives  us  more  than  one  impressive  demon- 
stration. Let  the  spirit  of  a  people  become  an  ex- 
aggerated sense  of  rights  without  a  corresponding 
sense  of  duties  ;  let  it  challenge  for  mere  will — the 
present  will  of  self-willed  majorities  that  legitimate 
supremacy  which  belongs  to  absolute  right  alone — 
and  what  are  constitutions  and  compacts  if  they 
stand  in  the  way  ?  Paper  and  words  to  men  who 
will  neither  read  nor  hear — especially  in  any  con- 


OF   THE   HUMAN   RACE.  231 

flict  of  ideas  or  interests,  any  struggle  of  parties 
or  passions.  That  such  is  the  tendency  of  demo- 
cratic absolutism,  of  the  supremacy  of  self-willed 
majorities,  to  override  the  checks  of  constitutions 
and  compacts,  of  reason  and  moral  right — it  is  im- 
possible to  deny.  It  may  take  long  years  before  it 
becomes  developed  in  any  destructive  way  ;  but 
that  in  its  unchecked  working  it  leads  on  to  anar- 
chic convulsion,  the  subversion  of  rational  freedom 
and  the  dissolution  of  the  social  bonds — it  is  equally 
impossible  to  deny. 

And  what  are  the  checks  that  are  to  restrain 
the  dangerous  tendencies  of  democratic  absolutism  ? 
Without  enumerating  those  which  may  be  con- 
ceived to  lie  in  the  modes  in  which,  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  circumstances,  the  public  will  may  be 
obliged  to  express  and  realize  itself,  I  will  say  that 
there  is  one  without  which  all  other  checks  are  in- 
adequate, and  that  is  the  prevalence  among  the 
people  of  the  spirit  of  unselfish  patriotism,  of  jus- 
tice and  of  love.  This  affords  the  only  adequate 
conservative  principle,  the  only  certain  guaranty  for 
the  beneficent  working  and  permanent  continuance 
of  democratic  institutions. 

But  does  it  lie  in  democratic  institutions  to 
create  this  spirit  ?     Or  to  unfold  it  ?     Or  to  foster 


232  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

it  ?  Or  even  to  give  it  fair  play  in  public  life  ? 
No.  History  answers,  no.  How  is  it  with  us  ? 
Politics  a  war  ;  "  wo  to  the  vanquished,"  the  war 
cry.  Politics  a  grand  game,  played  by  political 
demagogues — the  people  the  pawns — office  and  the 
emoluments  of  office  the  stakes  to  be  won.  Swarms 
of  greedy  office-seekers  eager  to  get  into  office,  and 
rival  swarms  of  greedy  office-holders  eager  to  keep 
in  ;  and  so  President-making  nearly  the  supreme 
political  business  of  the  nation — the  question  being 
not  about  the  best  man,  but  the  most  available 
man  for  party  ends  ;  and  the  people  kept  in  the 
turmoil  of  this  selfish  struggle  from  four  years'  end 
to  four  years'  end. 

Is  this  an  edifying  spectacle  .?  Are  these  in- 
fluences wholesome  in  their  working,  either  for  the 
private  or  the  public  morals  of  the  nation  ?  Is  it 
to  be  wondered  at  tbat  all  the  worst  elements  of 
society  come  up  into  disgusting  prominence  in  the 
primary  assemblies  of  the  people  during  the  heat 
of  elections  ?  Can  we  wonder  at  the  brutal  scenes, 
the  ruffianly  assaults,  the  trickeries  and  frauds, 
false  swearing  and  illegal  voting  enacted  at  the 
polls  ?  And — ^like  people  like  rulers — can  we  won- 
der that  the  halls  of  the  supreme  legislative  body 
of  the  nation  are  disgraced  by  scenes  of  vulgar  vio- 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  233 

lence,  personal  encounters,  and  deadly  weapons 
raised — to  say  nothing  of  minor  violations  of  pro- 
priety  and  decorum  unbecoming  such  a  place  ? 

If  it  be  permitted  to  the  spirits  of  the  departed 
patriots  who  sat  in  Congress  in  the  days  of  the 
Kevolution  and  of  Washington's  administration,  to 
witness  the  conduct  of  their  successors,  what  must 
they  think  of  the  men  that  now  fill  the  places 
they  once  filled,  and  of  the  people  that  send  them 
and  sustain  them  there  ?  Let  me  read  you  a  pas- 
sage from  a  letter  I  received  in  1837,  from  a  true 
gentleman  of  the  olden  time,  an  eminent  man  now 
gone,  who,  in  his  youth,  lived  in  intimate  relations 
with  Washington  and  the  public  men  of  Washing- 
ton's day  : 

"  In  the  years  1794,  '95,  '96,  I  often  saw  the 
House  and  Senate  of  that  day.  In  the  month  of 
May  last  I  went  to  Washington  solely  to  see  a 
House  and  Senate  of  forty  years  later.  What  a 
contrast !  If  the  majority  of  our  nation  be  now 
fairly  represented,  we  are  the  lowest  and  most  vul- 
gar of  all  the  Caucasian  race." 

This  was  twenty  years  ago.  The  House  of 
Kepresentatives  had  but  just  begun  to  be  the  bear 
garden  it  has  since  become,  and  the  Senate  was 
still  a  comparatively  dignified  and  decorous  body — 


234  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

no  scenes  of  personal  encounter  and  brutal  outrage 
(I  believe)  had  then  been  enacted  within  the  walls 
of  its  chamber.  What  would  the  writer  of  this 
letter  have  said  if  he  had  beheld  what  has  since 
been  seen  there  ? 

Now  if  the  picture  of  political  corruption  and 
violence — which  I  have  rather  referred  to  than 
sketched — ^be  to  any  extent  a  true  picture — and  you 
know  it  is — I  ask  again  :  does  it  lie  in  the  mere 
working  of  democratic  institutions  to  create,  or 
to  cherish,  or  even  to  give  fair  play  to  the  spirit  of 
unselfish  patriotism,  justice,  and  love  ?  And  again 
I  answer  no.  And  if  the  evils  we  deplore  have 
been  greatly  increasing  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years — and  that  they  have  cannot  be  denied — what 
guaranty  for  the  future  progress  of  our  nation  in 
public  and  private  virtue  can  democratic  institu- 
tions give  ?  What  guaranty  can  they  give  even 
for  their  own  conservation  and  continuance  ?  And 
therefore,  in  fine,  what  guaranty  could  they  give, 
if  spread  all  over  the  earth,  for  the  social  perfec- 
tion of  the  human  race,  for  the  advancement  oi 
humanity  to  a  true  rational  life,  for  the  cure  of  the 
moral  and  physical  evils  of  society,  for  the  frater- 
nization of  men  and  nations,  the  universal  reign  of 
justice  and  of  peace  ?* 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  we  have  had,  among  the  startling 


OF   THE  HUMAN   RACE.  235 

But  again :  the  advancement  of  Science  and 
the  diffusion  of  Knowledge,  are  much  looked  to  as 
the  promise  of  a  better  future.  No  one  can  think 
more  highly  of  these  than  I  do  as  conditions  and 
elements  of  the  highest  social  state ;  but  as  they 
do  not  in  themselves  alone  constitute  it,  so  neither 
in  their  own  efficacy  nor  in  any  efficacies  which 
they  necessarily  imply,  do  they  make  it  sure. 

Much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  marvels  of  scien- 
tific discovery  and  their  application  to  human  uses, 
to  which  the  last  fifty  years  has  given  birth.  The 
secrets  of  the  Life  of  Nature  are  disclosed ;  the 
wonderful  processes,  conditions  and  laws  of  the 
growth  and  nutrition  of  vegetable  life  are  so  ascer- 
tained, that  agriculture — ^the  great  art  on  which 
the  physical  life  of  humanity  mainly  rests — is  com- 
ing to  be  the  most  scientific  of  all  arts,  supplying 

proofs  of  our  progress  on  the  road  downwards,  the  established  fact 
of  the  whole  Legislative  body  of  a  Western  State  bought  up  in  the 
interest  of  a  profligate  corporation.  And  the  New  York  Daily 
Times  of  to-day  (April  18,  1860),  speaking  of  the  passage  of  certain 
bills,  sacrificing  the  public  good  to  great  moneyed  monopolies,  carried 
in  the  Legislature  of  New  York  against  the  Governor's  veto,  says : 
"  It  will  not  be  possible  to  convince  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
community  that  these  votes  were  not  bought  and  paid  for  /  "  I  do 
not  suppose  there  can  be  found  a  single  person  of  any  intelligence 
in  the  State,  who  does  not  believe  that  those  votes  were  "bought" 
and  sold,  and  probably  not  without  security  at  least  that  they  should 
be  "  paid  for." 


236  THE   HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

with  the  greatest  certainty,  exactitude,  and  economy, 
the  conditions  for  the  restoration  of  worn-out  fer- 
tility, and  the  appropriate  food  and  tillage  for  each 
several  product,  and  thus  multiplying  a  hundred- 
fold the  capabilities  of  human  subsistence  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  to  which  the  earthly  life  of  man 
is  tied  ;  the  sun  is  made  to  copy  as  no  artistic  hu- 
man eye  and  hand  can  portray ;  steam  and  light- 
ning have  annihilated  space  and  time,  and  brought 
the  ends  of  the  world  into  contact — the  world  both 
of  matter  and  of  mind.  These  are  indeed  the  mar- 
vels of  the  age.  I  stand  in  admiration,  wonder,  and 
awe,  before  them.  And  greater  marvels  still  will 
doubtless  be  disclosed  in  the  coming  age. 

But  it  should  be  remembered  that  all  the  do- 
minion over  nature  which  the  human  understand- 
ing gains  should  be  subordinated  to  the  control  of 
reason,  should  be  used  for  rational  ends.  Scientific 
discovery,  and  the  subjugation  of  the  tremendous 
forces  of  nature  to  man's  uses,  if  it  minister  only 
to  man's  self-willed  pride,  destroying  the  filial  rev- 
erence with  which  he  should  stand  in  the  midst  of 
Nature,  as  in  the  great  temple  built  by  the  Al- 
mighty Father's  hand  ;  if  it  be  valued  and  em- 
ployed only  as  a  means  of  increasing  and  diversify- 
ing the  sphere  of  physical   enjoyment   or   selfish 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  237 

gratification,  will  neither  make  men  wiser,  better, 
or  happier,  nor  society  more  rational,  or  better  off 
in  any  element  in  which  the  true  well-being  of  so- 
ciety consists.  The  tendency  on  the  contrary — a 
tendency  augmenting  with  every  fresh  conquest 
over  the  powers  of  nature — would  be  to  such  heights 
of  selfish  and  ungodly  civilization  as,  like  the  gi- 
gantic science  and  gigantic  wickedness  of  the  world 
before  the  Flood,  must  needs  be  swept  from  the 
earth,  and  humanity  be  made  to  begin  again  anew. 
And  as  to  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge — 
it  must  be  remembered  that  knowledge  is  a  power 
for  evil  as  well  as  for  good.  Light  in  the  head  is 
not  necessarily  goodness  in  the  heart.  Men  in- 
structed with  knowledge  may  be  the  wiser  and  the 
better  for  it,  or  they  may  be  merely  more  sharp  and 
knowing  in  evil.  Scientific  discoveries,  the  most 
useful  and  beneficent  in  their  proper  application, 
can  be  turned  to  account  as  instruments  of  crime. 
Knaves  and  rogues  have  seized  on  photography  and 
made  counterfeit  bank  notes,  which  the  bank  offi- 
cers, whose  names  they  bore,  could  not  distinguish 
from  those  they  signed.  Anaesthetic  agents,  de- 
signed to  relieve  human  pain,  are  employed  by 
thieves  and  burglars,  to  put  to  sleep,  or  to  deepen 
the  slumbers  of  those  they  would  plunder.     It  may 


238  THE   HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

indeed  be  said  that  science  will  ever  find  out,  and 
general  instruction  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  new 
methods  for  protecting  society  against  such  evil 
uses  of  scientific  discoveries.  What  sort  of  a  race 
is  this  ?  Quite  a  forlorn  hope  for  human  progress 
— it  seems  to  me. 

It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  ignorance  is 
the  parent  of  devotion — as  the  old  saying  goes — 
or  of  any  thing  else  that  is  good.  But  we  must 
beware  of  expecting  from  the  mere  diffusion  of 
knowledge  that  regeneration  of  human  society  which 
can  never  come  fi-om  that  cause  alone.  Unless 
permeated  and  actuated  by  higher  influences,  the 
widest  diffusion  of  knowledge  will  only  make  so- 
ciety less  wise  and  less  happily  off  in  all  that  con- 
stitutes its  rational  perfection  and  true  welfare. 


We  have  now  seen,  I  humbly  presume  to  think, 
that  neither  the  theoretical  possibility  of  the  social 
perfectionment  of  the  human  race  ;  nor  the  neces- 
sity and  universality  of  the  idea  and  of  the  impulse 
to  realize  it ;  nor  the  actual  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  nor  the  universal  spread  of  civil  liberty  and 
free  institutions  ;  nor  any  advancement  of  science. 


OF   THE   HUMAN    RACE.  23^ 

or  widest  diffusion  of  knowledge,  contain  in  them- 
selves— either  separately  or  combined — any  abso- 
lutely certain  warrant  that  this  ideal  perfection  of 
human  society  will  ever  be  actually  realized,  or 
perpetually  approached,  in  the  lifetime  of  human- 
ity on  the  globe.  So  far  from  it,  in  looking  around 
upon  the  actual  spectacle  which  the  highest  civili- 
zation of  the  world  presents,  and  forward  to  its  fu- 
ture progress  in  the  same  line  of  development,  we 
are  compelled  to  recognize  elements  of  evil  lying 
in  the  very  bosom  of  that  civilization — causes  of 
disaster,  perilous  possibilities  of  defeat  and  over- 
throw to  the  dearest  hopes  of  humanity.  The  fall 
of  the  unsupported  tower  is  not  more  certain  by 
the  law  of  material  gravitation,  than  in  the  moral 
sphere  is  the  certainty  that  the  historical  causes 
which  have  wrought  in  the  past,  are  causes  which 
now  and  in  the  future  will  ever  work  the  same  re- 
sults. Wealth,  luxury,  and  corruption,  as  in  the 
past  they  have  been,  so  in  the  future  they  will  ever 
be,  the  precursors  of  the  decay,  dissolution,  and 
downfall  of  states  and  nations.  This  is  inevitable 
unless  prevented  by  adequate  corrective  and  con- 
servative powers — ^powers  which  the  mere  preva- 
lence of  democratic  or  of  any  other  political  insti- 
tutions, the  progress  of  science  and  the  spread  of 


240  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

knowledge^  are  not  in  themselves  sufficient  to  call 
forth  and  put  into  action. 

Unless,  then,  we  give  over  in  despair  of  a  brighter 
future,  where  shall  we  turn  to  look  for  those  cor- 
rective and  saving  powers  ?  I  know  but  one  di- 
rection in  which  it  remains  to  look.  We  have  al- 
ready looked  everywhere  else.  Shall  we  then  turn 
to  Christianity  as  the  last  hope  for  the  social 
perfectionment  of  the  human  race  ?  Shall  we 
consider  what  and  how  much  Christianity  can  ef- 
fect— how  and  under  what  conditions — and  what 
promise  for  the  future  is  herein  contained  .? 

Here  I  see  at  once — as  all  must  see — that  the 
universal  prevalence  of  Christianity  as  an  actuating 
principle  in  the  life  of  the  world  would  be  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  human  race  to  the  rational  per- 
fection of  the  social  state.  Let  the  life  of  human- 
ity— of  men  and  of  nations,  in  their  individual,  so- 
cial, and  political  relations,  in  their  civilization,  cul- 
ture, science,  and  art — ^become  permeated  and  ac- 
tuated by  the  moral  spirit  of  Christianity,  and 
there  would  be  nothing  more  for  reason  to  demand 
or  the  heart  to  desire. 

I  see,  too,  that  Christianity  purports  to  embody 
the  conditions  and  means  of  making  its  moral  spirit 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  241 

a  living  principle  in  the  life  of  humanity.  In 
Christianity — not,  indeed,  considered  merely  as  a 
body  of  doctrines  and  ethical  precepts,  and  a  visi- 
ble institute  of  worship  and  moral  discipline,  but 
in  Christianity  considered  as  an  historical  organiza- 
tion of  supernatural  Divine  powers — I  see  pro- 
pounded the  only  adequate  cure  for  the  corruption 
of  the  human  race. 

I  speak  not  now  as  a  theologian,  but  as  a  phi- 
losopher, when  I  say,  the  corruption  of  the  human 
race.  For  this  corruption  is  simply  a  matter  of 
fact,  of  which  all  history  is  the  undeniable  demon- 
stration ;  a  fact  of  universal  observation  ;  a  fact 
testified  in  the  inmost  consciousness  of  every  one  of 
us — who  know  and  feel  that  we  are  not,  and  of  our 
own  unaided  power  shall  never  become,  what  we 
know  and  feel  we  ought  to  be.  It  is  this  fact  which 
contains  the  reason  why  the  history  of  humanity 
has  been  ever  a  history  of  abortive  strivings  after  a 
perfection  never  reached — the  reason  why  the  pro- 
gress of  civilization,  why  education,  science,  know- 
ledge, and  civil  liberty  afford  in  themselves  no  guar- 
anty that  this  perfection  ever  will  be  reached.  As 
a  philosopher  I  see — what  every  genuine  philoso- 
pher must  see — that  no  creed,  however  sublime,  no 
ethical  teachings,  however  divine,  no  institutes  of 
11 


242  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

worship  and  discipline,  however  pure  and  ennobling, 
can  work  the  regeneration  of  the  human  race  ;  be- 
cause that  is  something  which  no  merely  moral  influ- 
ences can  accomplish.  As  a  philosopher,  too,  I  am 
bound  to  look  at  Christianity  in  the  character  in 
which  it  undeniably  propounds  itself  to  the  world 
— and  that  is  not  merely  as  a  creed,  a  code,  and  a 
worship,  but  also  as  the  incorporation  into  the  life 
of  humanity  of  Divine  restoring  powers,  without 
which  all  its  moral  teachings  and  influences  would 
be  as  ineffectual  to  cure  the  corruption  of  the  hu- 
man race. as  the  Vedas  and  Shastras,  the  laws  of 
Lycurgus,  or  the  institutes  of  Menu. 

The  peculiar  pretension  of  Christianity  is  to 
cure  the  corruption  of  the  human  race  by  super- 
natural powers,  derived  to  humanity  from  the  union 
of  the  Divine  and  human  nature,  historically  ac- 
complished in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  through 
the  perpetual  indwelling  in  man  of  the  Eternal 
Spirit  of  Divine  Life.  As  a  philosopher  I  am  un- 
able to  explain  either  the  ground  and  reason  of  this 
peculiar  constitution  of  Divine  powers — why  it  is 
or  needs  must  be  so,  or  the  mode  and  working  of 
these  powers  ;  but  I  can  quite  clearly  understand 
that  Christianity  purports  to  be  such  a  constitu- 
tion ;  and  I  recognize  its  immeasurable  superiority 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  243 

over  any  mere  creed,  or  code,  or  institute,  or  any- 
conceivable  system  of  merely  moral  influences.  Its 
eminent  and  peculiar  pretension  is  to  accomplish 
by  Divine  powers,  in  a  supernatural  way,  what  I 
know,  as  a  philosopher,  no  merely  moral  influences 
can  accomplish — the  cure  of  the  spiritual  corrup- 
tion and  weakness  of  human  nature,  its  restoration 
to  spiritual  freedom  and  the  power  of  ^effectual 
goodness.  If  it  fulfil  this  pretension,  I  see,  as  a 
philosopher,  that  it  supplies  also  the  requisite  con- 
ditions for  securing  to  the  moral  influences  of  Chris- 
tianity their  proper  power,  and  for  making  the 
moral  spirit  of  Christianity  a  living,  actuating 
principle  in  the  universal  heart  of  humanity,  and 
thereby,  in  the  only  possible  way,  making  the  uni- 
versal spread  of  civilization,  intelligence,  and  civil 
liberty,  safe,  salutary,  and  beneficent  in  the  future 
progress  of  the  human  race. 

That  Christianity  is  destined  to  become  the  re- 
ligion of  the  world,  in  the  sense,  for  instance,  that 
it  is  of  our  own  country  now,  seems  nearly  certain, 
merely  from  the  continued  working  of  commercial, 
political,  and  other  historical  causes,  which  have 
already  borne  Christianity  along  with  them,  or 
opened  the  door  for  its  entrance — as  in  China  and 
Japan.     But  this  does  not  of  itself  determine  the 


244  THE   HISTOKICAL   DESTINATION 

question  whether,  through  the  universal  spread  of 
Christianity,  the  perfectionment  of  human  society 
on  the  earth  is  destined  to  be  ultimately  accom- 
plished. That  depends  upon  the  question  whether, 
through  man's  concurrence  with  the  working  of  the 
supernatural  powers  embodied  in  the  constitution 
of  Christianity,  the  moral  spirit  of  Christianity  is 
to  become  the  actuating  principle  of  the  life  of  the 
world.  And  how  can  we,  on  historical  grounds,  de- 
cide that  this  will  ever  be  the  case  ? 

Christianity  has  been  for  eighteen  hundred 
years  incorporated  into  the  historical  life  of  the 
world.  For  five  centuries  it  wrought  in  the  bosom 
of  the  old  corrupt  Koman  civilization,  but  could 
not  save  it.  The  Koman  Empire  crumbled  to 
pieces  at  the  touch  of  barbarian  hands — less  through 
the  force  of  the  shock  than  through  its  own  rotten- 
ness and  decay.  Entering,  along  with  the  inherit- 
ance of  Koman  law,  into  the  new  fresh  life  from  the 
North,  Christianity,  with  its  immense  ideas,  its  en- 
nobling influences,  and  its  supernatural  powers,  has 
been  working  in  the  heart  of  modern  civilization 
for  fourteen  hundred  years.  And  what  has  it  ac- 
complished .?  Much,  doubtless,  for  numberless  indi- 
viduals ;  much  also  for  society,  for  nations,  for  the 
Btate — yet  but  little  compared  with  what  it  must 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  245 

accomplish  before  it  can  effect  the  regeneration  of 
society,  the  pacification  of  the  world.  Breathing 
peace  and  good-will,  and  proclaiming  its  mission  to 
be  the  uniting  of  men  and  nations  in  a  brotherhood 
of  love,  by  the  pervading  bond  of  one  and  the  same 
divine  indwelling  Spirit,  Christianity,  through 
man's  corruption,  has  been  itself  the  very  occasion 
of  some  of  the  bloodiest  wars,  the  blackest  crimes, 
and  the  most  heart-rending  cruelties  that  the  pages 
of  human  history  record.  That  it  has  not  yet 
taught  states  and  nations  to  live  in  peace,  or  to 
settle  questions  of  conflicting  interest  on  principles 
of  mutual  justice,  the  late  Mexican  war,  and  the 
present  state  of  Europe,  are  enough  to  prove.  The 
moral  spirit  of  Christianity  is  not  in  any  tolerable 
degree  the  actuating  principle  of  the  life  of  any 
state  or  nation  in  Christendom.  No  Christian  peo- 
ple presents  the  spectacle  of  human  society  ad- 
vanced in  any  measurably  satisfactory  way  to  a  true 
rational  state. 

But  must  we  not  believe  that  it  lies  within  the 
resources  of  the  wisdom  and  power  of  the  Infinite 
Father  of  humanity  to  secure  for  Christianity  its 
legitimate  effect — to  make  its  moral  spirit  a  freely 
actuating  principle  in  the  life  of  men  and  nations 


246  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

throughout  the  world  ;  and  if  so^  is  it  consistent 
with  our  necessary  convictions  of  His  infinite  good- 
ness to  doubt  that  the  resources  of  infinite  wisdom 
and  power  will  be  applied,  through  the  providen- 
tial government  of  the  world,  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  end?  Have  we  not  herein,  then,  the 
sure  guaranty  for  the  final  advancement  of  human- 
ity to  a  true  rational  life  on  the  earth  ?  Must  we 
not  conceive  this  to  be  precisely  the  Divine  plan 
and  purpose  in  human  history  ? 

A  stupendous  question  this  !  I  freely  admit 
the  great  ideas  upon  which  it  goes.  The  history  of 
the  world  can  no  more  be  rationally  conceived  with- 
out the  idea  of  the  providence  of  God,  than  the 
existence  of  the  world  can  be  rationally  conceived 
without  the  idea  of  the  creative  power  of  Grod. 
Doubtless  there  is  a  Divine  plan  and  purpose,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  Most  High  conducts  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  Human  history  is  not,  indeed, 
like  the  world  of  space,  the  mere  product  of  the 
Almighty  will ;  neither  is  it  the  product  of  human 
activity  alone,  whether  of  self-willed  caprice,  or  of 
rational  endeavor.  There  is  a  human  element  in  it, 
and  there  is  an  element  that  is  divine.  An  Infi- 
nite Mind  presides  over  the  busy  activities  of  hu- 
man freedom,  through  generations  and  ages — pre- 


OF    THE   HUMAN    RACE.  247 

pares  the  scene — calls  the  actors  forth  in  their  time 
and  turn — and  through  their  action  carries  forward, 
from  age  to  age,  the  unfolding  of  His  divine  idea. 

But  I  do  not  see  that  we  are  led,  by  any  neces- 
sity of  our  conceptions  of  the  infinite  goodness  of 
God,  to  believe  that  the  conducting  of  humanity 
to  the  actual  attainment  of  the  highest  possible 
perfection  of  the  social  state  on  earth  is  the  spe- 
cial plan  and  purpose  of  His  providential  govern- 
ment of  the  world.  For  even  if  it  be  not,  all  ob- 
jections on  this  score  vanish  by  the  supposition  of 
a  destination  of  the  human  race  to  a  higher  eternal 
sphere,  and  by  the  fact  that  meanwhile  human 
beings,  as  individuals,  may  successfully  solve  the 
problem  of  their  existence  in  a  very  imperfect  state 
of  society,  and  indeed  precisely  through  the  disci- 
pline which  such  a  state  imphes — to  doubt  which 
would  be  to  suppose  the  existence  of  every  human 
being  for  six  thousand  years  to  be  an  utter  failure 
of  its  proper  end. 

In  venturing  to  pronounce  concerning  the  Di- 
vine plan  in  the  history  of  the  world,  we  must  re- 
member that  the  earthly  history  of  humanity  en- 
ters into  its  history  in  a  sphere  beyond  the  world. 
The  earthly  history  of  the  human  race  is  not  a 
complete  drama  in  itself.     It  is  but  an  act  in  the 


248  THE   HISTORICAL   DESTINATION 

drama  of  the  history  of  humanity.  When  the  curtain 
drops  at  the  end  of  the  world,  it  drops  but  to  rise 
again  for  another  act  on  another  and  a  vaster  scene. 
The  history  of  humanity,  moreover,  in  its  largest 
view,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  beyond, 
enters  into  yet  another  and  a  more  comprehensive 
history  still — the  history  of  the  universe.  It  is  a 
part  of  that  great  history  ;  not  only  not  a  complete 
drama,  but  only  an  act — it  may  be  not  a  whole  act 
even,  but  a  few  scenes,  or  a  single  scene — in  the 
grand  Universe  drama,  that  is  to  go  on  unfolding 
forever  in  the  circling  round  of  eternal  ages. 

Over  this  unfolding  the  Infinite  Mind  presides. 
Doubt  not  the  grand  drama  has  its  plan.  It  does 
not  roll  at  random  through  the  ages,  with  a  blind 
irrational  flow.  There  is  a  Divine  Idea  underlying 
all — ever  realizing  itself — every  scene,  every  act 
preparing  for  the  next,  and  all  carrying  the  great 
action  onward  to  its  grand  development. 

But  how  dare  we,  unless  instructed  by  the  Most 
High,  pronounce  what  this  all-comprehending,  all- 
explaining  Divine  Idea  is?  How  dare  we  pro- 
nounce what  is  the  subordinate  relation  in  which 
the  earthly  history  of  the  human  race  stands  to  the 
history  of  the  universe,  and  what  is  the  special  plan 
of  Grod's  providential  government  in  the  history  of 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  249 

this  world,  through  the  accomplishment  of  which 
the  grand  plan  of  the  universe  is  to  be  accom- 
plished ? 

There  is,  indeed,  one  comprehensive  idea,  which 

both  reason  and  Divine  instruction  seem  to  warrant 

us  to  assume.     Evil  exists  in  the  universe — Moral 

Evil,  not  the  product  of  God,  but  of  finite  self-will, 

through  the  abuse  of  that  freedom,  without  which 

there  could  be  no  such  beings  as  moral  creatures. 

But  Good  and  Evil,  like  light  and  darkness,  stand 

in  eternal  opposition,  mutually  destructive  of  each 

other.     They  must  ever  be  in  conflict.     It  does  not 

comport  with  the  nature  of  the  Infinite  Father  of 

the  Universe,  the  absolute  personal  substance  of 

Goodness,  of  Sanctity  and  Love,  that  he  should,  so 

to  say,  stand  idly  by,  an  indifferent  spectator,  or 

even  as  a  watchful  observer  of  the  conflict  between 

the  finite  powers  of  Good  and  Evil.     He  can  take 

no  neutral  part,  but  must  range  Himself  on  the  side 

of  Good.     A  grand  and  solemn  struggle ,  therefore, 

between  the  powers  of  Good  and  of  Evil,  conducted 

by  the  Most  High  Himself — this  we  may  believe  to 

be  the  inmost  sense  of  the  history  of  the  universe. 

This  is  the  comprehensive  idea,  which  explains  the 

plan  of  God's  providential   government    over  the 
11* 


250  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

universe.     As  to  the  final  issue,  doubt  not  what  it 
will  be. 

It  is  here  that  the  history  of  humanity  enters 
into  the  history  of  the  universe.  Our  world's  his- 
tory is  also  a  struggle  between  the  powers  of  good 
and  of  evil.  This  idea  explains  the  purport  of 
God's  intervention  in  the  world.  Christianity  is 
precisely  the  intervention  of  the  Infinite  Father  of 
humanity,  for  the  subjugation  of  the  evil  that  is  in 
the  human  race.  It  is  the  incorporation  of  a  di- 
vine principle  into  the  corrupted  life  of  the  race, 
through  the  Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Word,  and 
the  Indwelling  of  Grod  in  Man  by  the  Eternal  Spirit 
of  Life.  The  union  of  God  and  Man  in  the  person 
of  Christ,  is  the  central  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  of  the  universe,  too.  It  is  the  central 
principle  of  the  unity  of  the  human  race,  and  of 
all  rational  creatures.  This  truth  the  Infinite 
Father  announces  in  these  stupendous  words  : 
"  that  in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  time,  He 
might  gather  together  IN  ONE  all  things  in  Christ, 
both  which  are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth, 
even  in  Him."  What  words  can  be  more  express 
and  clear  ?  You  see  that  the  ever-living  Divine- 
human  Person  of  Christ,  is  the  centre  of  the  unity 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  251 

of  the  human  race,  of  its  union  with  God,  with  it- 
self, and  with  the  rational  universe.  Herein  lies 
the  divine  principle  for  the  pacification  and  perfec- 
tion of  the  world  and  of  the  universe,  according  to 
the  wonderful  words  of  the  Son  of  Grod,  the  Divine 
Mediator  between  the  Infinite  Father  and  His  finite 
creatures  :  '^  that  they  all  may  he  ONE  ;  as  Thou, 
Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may 
he  one  inus  ,  .  .  .  I  in  them  and  Thou  in  me,  that 
they  may  he  made  perfect  in  ONE ! "  If  this  be 
so,  how  absurd  to  attempt  a  philosophy  of  human 
history  upon  any  other  basis.  A  philosophy  of  his- 
tory, ignoring  its  greatest  fact,  its  central  idea  ! 
The  height  of  absurd  pretension  can  go  no  higher. 

That  this  great  all-comprehending  idea  of  God's 
providence  in  human  history  will  be  ultimately  re- 
alized— that  humanity,  united  in  Christ  to  itself, 
to  the  Infinite  Father,  and  to  the  rational  universe, 
will  accomplish  a  glorious  destination  in  an  eternal 
sphere — of  this  let  us  never  doubt.  Let  us  never 
doubt  the  final  triumph  of  good  over  evil  in  the 
empire  of  the  Infinite  Good  God. 

Subordinate  this  great  end,  the  disciplinary 
education  of  the  human  race  may  safely  be  assumed 


252  THE   HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

as  the  special  idea  of  God's  providential  government 
of  this  world.  For  since  God  does  and  needs  must 
deal  with  His  rational  creatures  as  moral  beings, 
free  to  improve  or  to  abuse  His  gracious  gifts,  to  con- 
cur with  or  to  resist  the  Divine  powers  which  Chris- 
tianity imparts  to  the  human  race,  it  is  evident 
that  the  disciplinary  influences  of  His  providential 
government  are  the  great  means  He  must  needs 
employ  in  order  to  secure  the  concurrence  of  men 
with  the  supernatural  efficacies  of  Christianity,  and 
so  to  make  its  moral  spirit  a  freely  actuating  prin- 
ciple in  the  life  of  humanity. 


But  this  does  not  imply  the  rational  perfection- 
ment  of  human  society  upon  the  earth,  unless  it 
be  necessary  in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
all- comprehending  eternal  end  of  God,  in  regard  to 
humanity  and  to  the  universe.  Whether  it  is  ne- 
cessary or  not,  is  something  our  thoughts  cannot 
pretend  to  determine.  If  it  be,  then  doubtless  it 
will  in  some  way  be  brought  about,  before  the 
earthly  history  of  the  human  race  is  closed — if  ever 
it  come  to  a  close,  and  that  it  will  is  certainly  the 
idea  that  Christianity  goes  upon. 

But  human  society,  states  and  nations  exist. 


OF    THE   HUMAN    RACE. 


253 


not  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  individ- 
uals, and  individuals  exist  here  in  this  world  solely 
in  order  to  a  higher  existence  in  another  world,  and 
it  may  be  that  God  can  conduct  humanity  to  its 
great  eternal  destination  in  a  higher  sphere,  though 
the  pathway  of  the  generations  should,  in  the  fu- 
ture, as  in  the  past,  lie  through  an  imperfect  and 
disordered  world. 

This  much  is  certain  :  the  idea  of  a  merely 
temporary  destiny  for  rational  creatures — no  matter 
how  prosperous  and  prolonged — is  one  in  which  our 
minds  can  never  rest.  Men,  indeed,  suffer  and  die 
for  their  country — for  the  merely  earthly  welfare  of 
those  that  are  to  come  after  them — and  are  hon- 
ored and  revered  by  those  for  whom  they  suffered 
and  died  ;  but  both  the  heroism  and  the  rever- 
ence have  their  root  in  rational  instincts  and  senti- 
ments, that  announce  in  man  a  higher  than  an 
earthly  destination,  and  are  inexplicable  on  any 
other  ground.  We  are  compelled,  in  fact,  in  every 
point  of  view,  to  hold  this  higher  destination  to  be 
the  great  end  of  man's  earthly  existence.  What 
is  any  merely  temporal  end  worth  in  any  right  ra- 
tional view  ?  Of  how  much  importance  is  the 
certainty  of  a  million  millenniums  of  earthly  com- 
fort and  enjoyment,  or  even  of  the  highest  degrees 


254  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

of  rational  welfare  in  store  for  future  generations, 
if  there  be  nothing  beyond  ?  It  would  neither 
satisfy  the  reason,  nor  console  the  heart.  It  is  only 
in  the  full  faith  of  a  higher  eternal  destination, 
that  the  problem  of  man's  earthly  existence  be- 
comes clear  ;  only  in  such  a  faith  we  find  heart 
greatly  to  rejoice  in  the  ever  so  sure  prospect  of  an 
earthly  millennium  of  righteousness  and  peace. 
Lighted  by  the  radiance  that  streams  down  from  the 
eternal  sphere,  the  vision  of  an  earthly  millennium 
becomes  indeed  something  beautiful  and  delight- 
ful, something  to  pray  for  and  to  work  for ;  but 
apart  from  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  gives 
us  great  heart  to  pray  or  to  work.  On  the  contra- 
ry, the  problem  of  humanity  becomes  utterly  dark 
and  full  of  trouble  to  our  thoughts  ;  the  long,  long 
ages  of  delayed  accomplishment — the  slow  progress, 
the  little  gain  ;  and  the  long,  long  ages  (it  may  be) 
yet  to  intervene  before  the  consummate  day — each 
previous  generation  existing  only  for  the  sake  of  the 
next,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  those  at  the  end  of  the 
series — and  those  favored  generations  reaching  their 
goal  only  through  the  struggles  and  sufferings,  the 
sweat,  the  tears,  the  blood  of  all  that  went  before 
them  !  Of  such  a  history  of  the  world,  rounded 
out  and  written  up,  how  does  the  contemplation 


OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE.  255 

strike  you  ?  Does  the  good  luck  of  the  favored 
generations  console  you  for  the  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  millions  (as  I  roughly  compute  it)  of  hu- 
man beings  that  have  already  toiled  and  wept,  and 
become  extinct,  and  the  million  millions  that  may 
yet  arise  to  toil  and  weep,  and  become  extinct,  foi 
the  advantage  of  the  favored  ones  ?  And  what 
sort  of  advantage  ?  An  earthly  millennium — a 
temporary  welfare,  and  nothing  beyond  !  How  are 
you  going  to  absolve  God  for  such  a  history  of  hu- 
manity ?  If  He  could  do  no  better,  better  have 
done  nothing  ;  so  at  least  our  reason  and  our  hearts 
prompt  us  to  feel.  If  He  could  do  better,  why  has 
He  not  ?  Either  way  darkness  and  trouble  to  our 
thoughts.  But  granted  a  career  of  endless  spirit- 
ual development,  and 

Doubt  is  dispelled  and  trouble  chased  away. 

Whether  the  vision  of  an  earthly  millennium  is 
to  be  realized  or  not,  we  no  longer  see  thousands  of 
generations  existing  for  the  sole  advantage  of  oth- 
ers— and  that  a  mere  temporary  advantage  :  on  the 
contrary,  we  recognize  each  existing  for  all,  and  all 
for  each — the  last  in  the  series  as  much  for  the  first 
as  the  first  for  the  last,  and  thereby  the  same  great 


256  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

end  for  each  and  all.  God's  purpose  in  the  earthly 
discipline  of  the  race  may  in  either  case  get  accom- 
plished. That  purpose  I  regard  as  having  a  three- 
fold object :  the  earthly  profit  of  humanity  in  its 
successive  generations,  the  profit  of  humanity  (in 
individuals  and  as  a  whole)  in  a  future  world,  and 
the  profit  of  the  rational  universe. 

If  there  is  to  come  an  earthly  millennium  for 
the  human  race,  the  education  that  conducts  man- 
kind to  it  will  also  be  for  the  profit  of  each  suc- 
cessive generation  on  its  way  to  a  higher  sphere,  as 
well  as  for  the  advantage  of  all  in  that  sphere.  If 
an  earthly  millennium  is  not  to  come,  the  disci- 
pline of  Grod's  providence  here  is  not  made  in  vain. 
Mankind  may  learn  something,  if  not  all  it  might 
learn.  The  world  may  become  a  better  and  a  bet- 
ter world,  even  though  it  never  become  a  perfect 
world.  And  the  lessons  learned  too  late  for  this 
world,  may  not  be  too  late  for  man's  profit  in 
another  world.  And  in  either  case,  the  great  les- 
sons which  the  history  of  the  world  may  be  intended 
to  teach  when  that  history  is  rounded  and  complete 
— and  which  cannot  be  learned  till  then — wiU  be 
for  the  profit  both  of  humanity  and  of  the  whole 
rational  universe  in  another  sphere. 


OF    THE   HUMAN    RACE.  257 

In  the  full  faith,  therefore,  of  a  high  eternal 
destination  for  the  human  race,  we  can  look  back 
upon  the  past  without  perplexity,  and  forward  to 
the  future  with  tranquil  hope.  We  see,  without 
dismay,  that  ifc  took  four  thousand  years  to  prepare 
for  the  historical  incorporation  of  Christianity  into 
the  life  of  the  world — four  thousand  years  of  disci- 
plinary education  of  the  human  race,  under  the 
providence  of  Grod,  in  order  to  put  into  the  world  a 
grand  historical  demonstration  of  the  radical  cor- 
ruption of  the  race,  and  its  utter  inability  to  raise, 
restore,  and  perfect  itself;  and  so  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  coming  of  the  Grreat  Kestorer.  We 
see,  without  dismay,  the  slow  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity, for  the  eighteen  hundred  years  it  has  been 
in  the  world.  We  see  that  it  has  been  ever  strug- 
gling with  the  powers  of  darkness  and  evil.  We 
see  that  wherever  and  in  whatever  degree  it  has 
failed  to  regenerate  the  social  state,  the  failure  is 
due  to  man's  resistance  of  its  proper  power.  We 
note,  too,  the  victories  it  has  gained — the  lessons 
God  has  made  humanity  to  learn,  by  sharp  expe- 
rience, of  the  consequences  of  its  own  self-willed 
pride  and  wickedness.  And  we  may  look  with 
solemn  awe  for  more  such  victories  ;  for  I  see  not 
how,  but  by  bitter  experience  of  the  legitimate 


258  THE    HISTORICAL    DESTINATION 

fruits  of  overbearing  and  nullifying  God's  teach- 
ings and  God's  ordinances,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is, 
in  the  coming  age,  to  subvert  the  Gospel  of  Mam- 
mon, or  the  constitution  of  the  State  to  maintain 
itself  against  the  spirit  of  self-willed  democracy 
setting  up  the  exclusive,  and  therefore  necessa- 
rily licentious  and  anarchical  notion  of  mere  Eights 
as  the  standard  of  true  Freedom,  against  the  di- 
vine rational  ideas  of  Duty  and  of  Law.  But  in 
some  way,  through  God's  providence,  I  look  forward 
to  future  triumphs  of  Christianity  over  the  evil  yet 
in  the  world — to  future  lessons  learned,  for  the  in- 
struction of  humanity,  and  for  rational  creatures  in 
other  worlds.  And  if  I  cannot  give  utterance  here 
to  the  ordinary  strains  of  gratulation  ;  if  I  decline 
to  ring  the  customary  changes  in  laudation  of  the 
"spirit  of  the  age" — ^which  seems  to  me  (much 
and  for  many  years  deeply  pondering  the  history  of 
the  world)  to  be  more  a  spirit  of  hard  worldliness 
and  intense  worldly  pride,  less  heroic,  less  reverent, 
less  influenced  by  the  enthusiasm  of  high  spiritual 
ideas  and  unselfish  interests,  than  in  any  former 
period  of  human  history  ;  if  I  cannot  draw  bright 
auguries  for  the  future,  from  the  mere  progress  of 
material  civilization,  of  knowledge  and  political 
liberty — I  can  point  you  to  better  grounds  for  re- 


OF   THE   HUMAN    RACE.  259 

pose  and  hope.  The  destinies  of  humanity  are  safe 
in  the  hands  of  God.  It  may  be  that  Divine  pre- 
dictions justify  not  only  the  belief  in  the  universal 
spread  of  Christianity,  (which  we  have  seen  his- 
torical causes  make  nearly  sure,)  but  also  those 
visions  of  a  millennial  perfection  of  society,  with 
which  the  heart  of  humanity  solaces  itself — when 
darkness  and  evil  shall  be  dispelled  from  the  world, 
when  violence  and  wrong,  and  want  and  wo  shall  be 
banished  from  the  earth,  and  men  and  nations  shall 
dwell  together  in  brotherhood  and  peace.  Let  no 
man  forbid  the  religious  hope  they  inspire.  Chris- 
tianity can  effect  this.  Nothing  else  can.  It  may 
be  God  designs  it  shall.  Let  the  heart  of  universal 
humanity  lift  up  the  prayer  the  world's  Kestorer 
taught  the  human  heart  to  pour  forth  to  the  Infi- 
nite Father  of  Love  :  Thy  Icingdom  come — thy  will 
he  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven.  And  in  the  spirit 
of  this  prayer  let  e^ch  one  work  through  Ms  work- 
day on  the  earth.  As  to  the  rest,  let  us  ever  con- 
sole ourselves  with  the  fact  that  the  destinies  of 
humanity  are  safe  in  the  hands  of  God.  What- 
ever be  the  future  fortunes  of  our  country,  or  of  the 
nations  on  the  earth,  the  Infinite  Father  will  gather 
all  things  together  in  one  in  Christ — both  which 
are  in  heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth.     The  final 


260  DESTINATION    OF    THE    HUMAN    RACE. 

subjugation  of  Evil  in  the  empire  of  God  is  sure. 
Evil  will  be  destroyed  by  the  all-converting,  all-ab- 
sorbing power  of  Eternal  Love.  The  destination 
of  humanity  shall  be  gloriously  accomplished  in  a 
high  eternal  sphere. 


REMARKS  0^  MR.  BANCROFT'S  ORATIOI  OlS  HUMAN 
PROGRESS. 


REMARKS  ON  MR.  BANCROFT'S  ORATION  ON 
HUMAN  PROGRESS.* 


Mr.  Bancroft's  discourse  is,  in  many  respects, 
a  beautiftil  oratorical  performance  ;  constructed 
with  great  artistic  skill ;  polished  in  style  ;  evinc- 
ing a  fine  scholarlike  culture  of  fancy  and  of  taste  ; 
embodying  many  just,  many  striking,  many  beau- 
tiful thoughts  in  the  choicest  forms  of  expression. 
But  considered  as  a  philosophical  treatment  of  the 
great  subject  it  propounds,  it  seems  to  us  inade- 
quate and  insufficient.  It  does  not  strike  one  as 
the  production  of  a  great,  clear,  strong  thinker, 
dealing  in  the  might  of  his  own  original  power  with 
a  problem  which  he  thoroughly  apprehends,  know- 
ing exactly  what  he  ought  to  mean  and  say,  and 

*  The  Necessity,  the  Reality,  and  the  Promise  of  the  Progress 
of  the  Human  Race.  Oration  before  the  New  York  Historical  So- 
ciety, Nov.  20,  1854. 


264      REMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S   ORATION 

marching  with  a  firm  tread  on  solid  ground  from  a 
well-defined  starting  point  to  a  clear  determinate 
conclusion.  There  is  a  want  of  grasp  and  precis- 
ion in  the  handling.  There  is  a  sort  of  vague  hov- 
ering around  an  object  dimly  perceived.  It  seems 
like  the  work  of  a  dealer  in  centos  of  striking 
thought  diligently  collected,  of  a  weaver  of  beau- 
tiful sentences,  a  culler  of  dainty  phrases,  one  who 
dallies  fondly  with  words  as  if  they  were  something 
fine  in  themselves.  The  theme  is  proposed  ;  the 
great  divisions  are  marked  off;  the  interspaces 
are  filled  with  choice  utterances,  many  of  them 
true,  but  many  of  them,  especially  in  the  first  di- 
vision of  the  discourse,  not  very  clearly  to  the  pur- 
pose, either  as  argument  to  prove,  or  as  considera- 
tions to  elucidate  or  confirm,  the  point  on  which 
they  ought  to  bear ;  exciting  often  your  delight 
and  admiration,  but  leaving  at  last  no  clear  per- 
ception of  any  thing  you  have  reached  except  the 
termination — a  vague,  fine,  oratorical  peroration. 
You  feel  as  if  you  had  been  floating  in  a  cloudland 
of  shifting  shapes  and  gorgeous  hues,  but  where  all 
is  unsubstantial ;  or  looking  through  a  kaleidoscope 
as  from  time  to  time  it  was  turned  round,  disclos- 
ing infinitely  diversified  combinations  of  form  and 
color,  but  without  organic  connection  and  signifi- 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  265 

cance  ;  or  contemplating  an  exquisite  piece  of  Mo- 
saic work  wherein  are  wrought  a  multitude  of  sep- 
arate figures,  many  of  them  individually  beautiful, 
but  having  no  unity,  no  expression  as  a  whole. 

This,  we  confess,  is  rather  an  exaggerated  way 
of  expressing  our  feeling,  but  it  does  express  the 
nature  of  our  feeling  of  disappointment  and  dissat- 
isfaction. This  elaborate  performance  is  not  such 
a  contribution  to  historical  philosophy  as  we  had 
hoped  to  find  it.  Many  profound  truths  are  indeed 
enunciated  or  suggested,  but  the  great  problem  it 
undertakes  does  not  seem  to  us  either  adequately 
solved  or  even  worthily  conceived.  We  have  read 
it  again  and  again,  and  for  the  third  and  fourth 
time  ;  and  each  time  the  question  has  pressed  on 
us — What  does  it  all  amount  to  .?  What  is  its 
pith  and  substance  ?  How  much  and  what  is  its 
clear  significance  and  accomplishment  ?  And  the 
answer  we  have  been  able  to  give  comes  to  about 
this  : 

Mr.  Bancroft  proposes  to  discuss  three  topics — 
the  Necessity,  the  Eeality,  and  the  Promise  of  the 
Progress  of  the  Human  Race.  The  nature  of  this 
progress  is  thus  determined: — "The  progress  of 
man  consists  in  this,  that  he  himself  arrives  at  the 
perception  of  truth/' 
12 


266      KEMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S   ORATION 

The  necessity  of  this  progress  is  the  first  point. 
And  out  of  all  that  is  said  under  this  head — in- 
cluding many  striking  and  beautiful  utterances, 
some  of  them  true,  some  of  them  which  we  think 
not  true — the  following  is  the  substance  of  every 
thing  that  has  any  bearing  on  the  point,  either  in 
the  way  of  argument  or  of  elucidation  and  confir- 
mation :  ' '  The  necessity  of  the  progress  of  the 
race  follows  from  the  fact,  that  the  great  Author 
of  all  life  has  left  truth  in  its  immutability  to  be 
observed,  and  has  endowed  man  with  the  power  of 
observation  and  generalization."  It  follows  also 
from  "contemplating  society  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  unity  of  the  universe  " — which,  so  far 
as  we  can  see  his  meaning  and  the  nature  of  his 
argument  in  what  is  added,  amounts  to  this  :  that 
the  universe  is  God's  creation,  the  reflection  of  His 
perfections,  subject  to  perpetual  change,  because 
finite,  and  in  its  changes  is  governed  by  His  provi- 
dence according  to  universal  and  absolute  laws — 
the  human  race  marching  in  accordance  with  the 
Divine  will,  and  therefore  there  must  be  a  progress 
of  the  race  ;  which  progress,  agreeably  to  what  had 
before  been  laid  down  as  to  its  nature,  should  con- 
sist in  arri^ang  at  the  perception  of  truth ;  though, 
from  what  is  said  in  this  connection,  that  idea  of 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  267 

progress  seems  to  be  merged  into  a  larger  and  more 
general  notion  not  very  precisely  indicated. 

Then,  under  the  second  great  division,  the  re- 
ality of  human  progress  is  shown ;  in  the  first 
place  by  referring  to  the  immense  advances  in  sci- 
ence which  have  been  made,  especially  within  the 
last  fifty  years — in  mineralogy,  physiology,  astron- 
omy, geology,  chemistry  ;  in  the  next  place,  by  re- 
citing a  number  of  the  wonderful  applications  of 
the  agencies  of  nature,  steam,  electricity,  light ; 
the  extension  of  commercial  relations  and  means 
of  intercourse  ;  social  ameliorations  in  regard  par- 
ticularly to  the  position  of  woman,  the  dignity  of 
labor  and  the  abolition  of  servitude  ;  and  lastly,  by 
referring  to  the  recognition  among  men  of  the 
Triune  God,  the  Incarnation  and  Indwelling  of  Grod 
in  humanity,  and  the  benign  and  ennobling  efi'ects 
that  have  flowed  from  the  recognition  of  these  great 
truths.  Under  the  last  division  of  the  discourse — 
the  promise  of  the  future — the  truth  *^  that  God 
has  dwelt  and  dwells  with  humanity,"  is  made 
"  the  perfect  guarantee  for  its  progress."  And 
here  the  notion  of  progress  is  made  to  include  not 
only  the  arriving  at  the  perception  of  truth,  but 
also  all  sorts  of  ameliorations,  social  and  political, 
and  the  universal  diffusion  of  them,  especially  the 


268      REMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S   ORATION 

blessings  of  personal  liberty  and  republican  govern- 
ment— all  which  effects  are  to  come  from  "  the 
more  complete  recognition  of  the  reciprocal  rela- 
tions of  God  and  humanity,"  as  constituting  "  the 
unity  of  the  human  race/' — although  geographical 
science  exploring  the  whole  habitable  globe,  and  col- 
onization and  commerce  filling  it  with  civilized 
men  ;  and  the  press  ;  and  free  schools  ;  are  to  have 
also  a  powerful  influence — whether  indirectly,  in 
promoting  the  recognition  of  this  principle  of  the 
unity  and  what  he  calls  the  universality  of  the  hu- 
man race,  or  directly,  in  promoting  those  ameliora- 
tions on  distinct  and  independent  grounds,  or  in 
both  ways,  does  not  clearly  appear. 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  discourse,  as  nearly 
and  as  fairly  as  we  can  make  it  out.  This  is  its 
whole  jointing  and  articulation.  As  to  the  filling 
up,  we  will  not  say  that  it  is  altogether  destitute 
of  organic  relation  to  the  framework  ;  but  it  does 
seem  to  us  that  there  are  many  draperies  of  fine 
thought  and  beautiful  expression  thrown  over  it, 
which  have  little  living  connection  with  it. 

But  our  chief  dissatisfaction  with  this  discourse 
is  in  regard  to  its  most  general  spirit  and  purport. 
We  give  all  honor  to  Mr.  Bancroft,  for  his  enuncia- 
tion of  the  great  truth  that  the  Providence  of  God 


ON    HUMAN   PROGRESS.  269 

is  the  presiding  genius  of  human  history,  and  of  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Son  of  God,  as  the 
great  central  fact  in  the  history  of  the  world  and 
of  the  universe  ;  and  for  the  many  profoundly  true 
and  beautiful  things  he  has  said  in  this  relation. 
But  notwithstanding  its  unspeakable  superiority, 
as  in  many  other  respects,  so  especially  in  this,  to 
most  other  performances  of  the  class  to  which  it 
belongs,  yet  it  does  belong  essentially  to  a  class  of 
which  we  have  more  than  enough  :  whose  chief  ef- 
fect is  to  minister  to  the  pride  and  vanity  of  the 
present  age,  inflating  men  with  a  self-complacent 
sense  of  the  wonders  they  have  achieved,  and  mak- 
ing them  feel  that  there  can  be  no  more  glorious 
future  for  the  world  than  in  its  being  just  what  the 
world  now  is — only  increasingly  a  great  deal  more 
so,  by  the  intensification  of  the  spirit  of  the  pres- 
ent age,  and  by  the  enlargement  of  the  sphere  of 
its  activities,  discoveries,  conquests,  in  the  same 
direction  in  which  it  has  been  going  on  so  magnifi- 
cently for  the  last  fifty  years.  Seeing  thus,  in  the 
future,  nothing  but  the  colossal  reflection  of  its 
own  image,  the  present  age  finds  the  contemplation 
as  gratifying  to  its  vainglorious  conceit  as  the  con- 
trast between  the  present  and  the  past. 

The  question  concerning  Human  Progress,  as  it 


270      REMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S   ORATION 

seems  to  us,  can  have  no  value  or  importance  in  a 
philosophical  view,  and  there  can  be  no  sound  and 
salutary  thinking  in  regard  to  it,  unless  the  nature 
of  that  progress,  in  any  desirable  view  of  it,  be 
rightly  and  worthily  conceived  ;  unless  man  be  re- 
garded in  the  highest  attributes  of  his  spiritual  na- 
ture, and  his  development  to  the  normal  perfection 
of  that  nature  be  assumed  as  the  great  end  for 
which  he  exists.  Regarded  in  this  point  of  view, 
the  question  concerning  the  progress  of  the  human 
race,  is  the  question  whether,  and  how  far  it  has 
advanced  and  will  advance  to  a  truly  rational  life, 
in  individuals,  in  society,  in  states  and  nations,  and 
in  the  community  of  nations.  All  other  develop- 
ments of  his  faculties  ;  all  other  advancements, 
whether  in  civilization,  wealth,  science,  knowledge  ; 
all  improvements  in  polity  and  social  institutions, 
are  subordinate  to  this  end,  and  are  of  worth  and 
importance  as  they  conspire  to  this  end. 

In  this  point  of  view,  it  must  become  apparent 
that  the  great  aspects  of  human  society — in  com- 
munities, in  states  and  nations,  and  in  the  brother- 
hood of  nations — presents  a  picture  in  the  highest 
degree  irrational.  Progress  in  civilization,  in  sci- 
ence and  knowledge,  in  the  subjugation  of  the  tre- 
mendous forces  of  nature  to  man's  earthly  uses,  has 


ON   HUMAN    PROGRESS.  27 1 

not  been  a  proportionable  progress  of  humanity  in 
true  rational,  moral  and  spiritual  development. 
On  the  contrary,  it  has  intensified  some  of  the  worst 
physical,  social  and  moral  evils  which  the  aspect  of 
society  presents.  The  greater  the  development  of 
civilization,  the  worse  the  moral  aspects  at  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  social  scale  ;  the  greater  luxury 
and  corruption  at  one  end,  and  the  greater  misery 
and  degradation  at  the  other  end  :  and  throughout 
the  whole  scale  the  tendency  to  hard  worldliness  in 
place  of  true  spiritual  development.  And  by  con- 
sequence, no  highest  intensification  and  world-wide 
spread  of  such  a  civilization  in  the  future  will  carry 
humanity  onward  to  a  better  state,  to  a  nearer  ap- 
proach to  its  true  spiritual  perfection.  Equally 
evident  is  it,  from  the  aspects  of  the  present,  that 
a  more  hopeful  promise  for  the  future  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  mere  spread  of  intelligence  ;  nor  in 
improved  civil  and  political  institutions  ;  nor  even 
in  Christianity  itself  considered  as  a  creed,  a  code, 
and  a  worship.  It  is  only  in  proportion  as  the 
moral  spirit  of  Christianity  becomes  the  actuating 
principle  in  the  heart  of  humanity — in  the  histori- 
cal life  of  the  world,  in  men  and  nations,  in  the 
state,  and  in  the  relations  of  states — that  there 
can  be  any  true  progress  of  the  human  race  in  the 


272      KEMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

Jine  of  its  proper  development.  And  this  is  what 
no  mere  moral  influences  can  accomplish — not  the 
moral  influences  of  Christianity  itself,  however 
powerful  and  ennobling  they  are.  Because  moral 
influences  are  not  an  adequate  cure  for  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  human  race.  Only  in  Christianity,  as 
a  historical  constitution  embodying  supernatural, 
divine  efficacies,  is  this  cure  to  be  found,  and  a  basis 
thus  created  for  making  its  moral  spirit  a  living 
principle  in  the  heart  of  humanity. 

And  here  we  touch  upon  a  defect  in  Mr.  Ban- 
croft's discourse  which  we  greatly  regret.  He  has 
left  it  too  much  to  be  inferred  that  the  guaranty 
for  the  true  progress  of  the  human  race  is  to  be 
found  in  the  mere  moral  effect  of  the  recognition  of 
the  Incarnation  as  the  mediation  between  God  and 
mati,  and  as  the  centre  of  the  unity  of  the  race. 
We  are  sure  he  ought  not  to  mean  this,  from  the 
way  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  ^'  indwelling  of  God 
in  man."  He  speaks  of  it  not  merely  as  a  super- 
natural fact  accomplished  in  the  historical  person 
of  Christ,  but  as  a  perpetual  fact  in  the  human 
race,  through  the  abiding  of  the  paraclete  and 
COMFORTER.  Still  he  has  not  made  clear  the  im- 
mense distinction  between  the  moral  influence  of 
the  doctrine  of  which  he  speaks,  on  the  one  hand, 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  273 

and  the  supernatural,  regenerating  powers  which 
that  doctrine  discloses,  on  the  other. 

Whether  or  not,  under  the  Providence  and  dis- 
ciplinary government  of  God,  through  the  working 
of  its  supernatural  efficacies  and  man^s  concurrence 
therewith,  the  moral  spirit  of  Christianity  is  ever 
to  become  the  paramount  actuating  principle  in 
the  life  of  the  world  ;  and  thus  humanity  to  attain 
here  in  this  world  its  proper  development  in  so- 
ciety, is  a  point  which  we  have  not  room  now  to 
consider  at  that  length  without  which  we  should 
not  wish  to  speak  at  all. 

We  cannot  conclude  without  quoting  one  or 
two  passages  which  we  feel  bound  to  subject  to  spe- 
cial criticism.     The  first  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  life  of  an  individual  is  but  a  breath ;  it  comes 
forth  like  a  flower,  and  fleeth  like  a  shadow.  Were  no 
other  progress,  therefore,  possible  than  that  of  the  indi- 
vidual, one  age  would  have  little  advantage  over  another. 
But  as  every  man  partakes  of  the  same  faculties,  and  is 
consubstantial  with  all,  it  follows  that  the  race  also  has  an 
existence  of  its  own ;  and  this  existence  becomes  richer, 
more  varied,  free  and  complete,  as  time  advances.  Com- 
mon Sense  implies  by  its  very  name,  that  each  individ- 
ual is  to  contribute  some  share  towards  the  general  intel- 
ligence. The  many  are  wiser  than  the  few  ;  the  multi- 
tude than  the  philosopher  ;  the  race  than  the  individual ; 
and  each  siuxessive  age  than  its  predecessor.''^  (P.  10.) 
1*2* 


274      REMARKS    ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

It  is  to  tlie  last  two  sentences,  which  we  have 
distinguished  by  printing  them  in  italics,  that  we 
wish  to  call  attention.  We  have,  in  the  first,  a 
most  UD  common  use  of  the  term  common  sense. 
Common  sense  is  commonly  understood  to  refer  to 
truths  needing  no  proof  or  analysis,  but  immediately 
evident  to  all  men,  because  all  men's  minds  are  so 
constituted  as,  under  certain  conditions,  to  be  af- 
fected in  the  same  way.  But  who  ever  heard  be- 
fore of  common  sense  as  implying  a  mass  of  cogni- 
tions or  convictions,  brought  together  by  an  intel- 
lectual pic-nic  process — one  individual  contributing 
one  thing,  and  another  another,  each  according  to 
his  several  capacity  and  power,  some  discerning  and 
contributing  truths  not  discerned  by  the  others  ! 
This  is  a  violation  of  the  usage  of  language,  both 
popular  and  philosophical,  and  a  perversion  of  psy- 
chological fact.  No  individual  can  contribute  any 
thing  to  the  common  sense  of  mankind  ;  and  so  far 
as  there  are  truths,  facts,  doctrines,  now  generally 
accepted  among  men,  which  are  not  in  themselves 
immediately  evident  to  all  alike,  but  which  have 
been  discovered  and  contributed  by  individuals,  and 
received  into  the  general  belief,  on  grounds  of  evi- 
dence proper  to  each,  they  can  in  no  just  usage  of 
language  be  spoken  of  as  the  common  sense,  or  as 


ON    HUMAN   PROGRESS.  275 

objects  of  the  common  sense  of  mankind.  This  is 
indeed  merely  a  verbal  matter,  but  still  we  think  it 
best  that  the  term  in  question  should  be  used  in 
the  meaning  it  has  always  borne  in  general  usage. 

But  our  special  concern  is  with  the  next  sen- 
tence :  *^  The  many  are  wiser  than  the  few ;  the 
multitude  than  the  philosopher."  This,  we  take 
leave  to  say,  is,  in  any  pertinent  and  reasonable 
view  of  the  import  of  the  language,  sheer  absurdity 
and  untruth.  It  is  one  of  that  sort  of  utterances 
that  always  move  our  spleen — smart  sayings,  with 
a  certain  ringing  tone  in  them,  but  as  empty  of 
truth  as  "  the  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal," 
are  of  "  charity " — fine  sentences,  which  when 
grasped  and  subjected  to  a  searching  inquest  are 
obliged  to  collapse  into  drivelling  platitudes,  in  or- 
der to  save  even  the  smallest  fraction  and  semblance 
of  meaning  and  truth.  "  The  many  wiser  than  the 
few  !  "  What  does  he  mean  7  Wisdom  is  a  rela- 
tive attribute  when  predicated  of  men.  Some  may 
have  more  of  it,  some  less  ;  some  a  great  deal, 
some  very  little,  some  possibly  none  at  all,  or  so  lit- 
tle as  to  be  ranked  as  unwise  or  foolish  men.  Does 
Mr.  Bancroft  mean  that  the  number  of  wise  men  is 
greater  than  the  number  of  foolish  men  ?  Perhaps 
it  is.     It  is  to  be  hoped  it  is.     But  that  is  not  his 


276       REMARKS   ON   MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

meaning ;  it  would  reduce  his  sharp  saying  to  a 
pointless  platitude.  What  does  he  mean  then  ? 
Who  are  "  the  few "  that  he  has  in  his  mind  ? 
Are  they  the  comparatively  ignorant  and  unculti- 
vated ?  No.  Are  they  the  comparatively  in- 
structed and  cultivated  ?  Yes.  And  who  are 
"  the  many "  ?  Are  they  the  more  instructed  ? 
No.     Are  they  the  less  instructed  ?     Yes. 

His  utterance  then  resolves  itself  into  the  as- 
sertion that  the  ignorant  many  are  wiser  than  the 
instructed  few — which  is  either  a  flat  contradiction 
or  else  a  paradox.  If  taken  as  a  contradiction,  we 
need  pursue  the  matter  no  further  ;  if  taken  as  a 
paradoxical  utterance  of  a  truth,  we  deny  that 
there  is  any  truth  in  it.  On  what  ground  can  the 
ignorance  or  unwisdom  of  the  many  be  pronounced 
wiser  than  the  wisdom  of  the  few  ?  Is  it  that  the 
less  cultivated  many  are  individually  each  wiser 
than  any  of  the  cultivated  few  ?  No.  Is  it  that 
the  collective  wisdom  of  the  many  is  greater  than 
the  collective  wisdom  of  the  few  ?  That  might  be 
the  case — provided,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  de- 
cisions or  conduct  of  a  collective  body  could  be 
wiser  than  the  wisdom  of  the  individuals  composing 
it— a  thing  likely  to  be  when  the  water  of  a  stream 
can  contrive  to  raise  itself  higher  than  its  foun- 


ON   HUMAN    PROGRESS.  277 

tain  ;  and  provided,  in  the  second  place,  that  wis- 
dom were  any  thing  to  be  measured  by  bulk  or 
weight.  Under  these  two  conditions,  but  not  oth 
erwise,  this  and  the  other  utterances  of  this  sen- 
tence— "  the  multitude  wiser  than  the  philosopher  ; 
the  race  than  the  individual " — may  come  to  have 
some  meaning  and  truth,  instead  of  being,  what 
they  now  are,  absurdly  untrue. 

It  may  be  thought,  perhaps,  that  we  are  spend- 
ing too  much  time  in  harrying  and  worrying  this 
poor  sentence.  We  do  not  think  so.  It  is  a 
pointed  utterance  intended  to  pass  for  a  striking 
truth.  In  our  view  it  is  not  only  untrue,  but  mis- 
chievous ;  and  we  feel  bound  to  expose  its  untruth 
and  to  counteract  its  pernicious  practical  tendency 
and  effect.  It  belongs  to  a  class  of  utterances, 
very  frequent  nowadays,  which  have  no  other  effect 
than  to  minister  to  men's  vanity  and  self-love,  pride 
and  lawless  self-will.  Coleridge  has  somewhere 
said  something  like  this — that  a  half-truth  is  often- 
times the  greatest  of  lies.  We  would  say  that  lies 
which  either  contain  a  portion  of  truth,  or  the  per- 
version of  a  truth,  or  which  are  practically  made  to 
pass  for  some  great  truth  standing  in  their  neigh- 
borhood, are  the  most  pernicious  of  lies.  Of  this 
sort  is  the  celebrated  saying  :  ''The  voice  of  the 


278       REMARKS    ON.    MR. 

people  is  the  voice  of  God/'  True,  it  is  so — when- 
ever the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  echo  of  Grod's 
voice  in  man.  And  only  then.  In  other  words,  it 
is  not  a  universal  truth.  But  proclaim  it  as  such, 
and  you  proclaim  a  falsehood  ;  a  most  mischievous 
falsehood.  Proclaim  it  without  any  qualification, 
on  platforms,  to  excited  crowds,  and  a  thousand  to 
one,  it  will  be  taken  as  an  absolute  truth,  and  as  a 
perfect  vindication  for  all  that  their  excited  pas- 
sions may  prompt  them  to  do.  And  thus  taken, 
it  may  be  rightfully  pleaded  as  a  divine  sanction 
for  all  the  crimes  that  have  ever  been  committed 
under  the  impulse  of  popular  frenzy,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world  to  the  Crucifixion  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  from  that  day  to  this. 

But  Mr.  Bancroft's  assertion — that  "  the  many 
are  wiser  than  the  few  ;  the  multitude  than  the 
philosopher" — contains  no  truth,  either  absolute 
or  contingent ;  either  universal  or  general ;  either 
in  principle  or  in  fact.  Undoubtedly  there  is  a 
truth  standing  over  against  it — but  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  it,  nor  made  to  sanction  it — in  the 
light  of  which  indeed  the  untruth  of  his  assertion 
may  be  more  thoroughly  discerned.  Doubtless 
there  is  in  the  public  mind  an  unreflected  sense  of 
w^ant  and  an  instinctive  impulse  towards  what  is 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  279 

expedient  and  wise  in  the  social  and  political 
sphere.  Doubtless,  too,  in  the  higher  moral  sphere, 
there  are  instinctive  convictions  and  impulses  in 
che  heart  and  conscience  of  humanity,  which — pre- 
judice and  passion  apart — prompt  a  consentaneous 
cry  of  the  human  race  in  behalf  of  justice  and  of 
right,  whenever  the  chords  to  which  they  vibrate 
are  rightly  struck.  And  in  either  case,  so  far  as 
the  great  multitudinous  cry  utters  itself  wisely  and 
rightly,  it  is  because  it  is  in  accordance  with  neces- 
sary principles  divinely  implanted  in  the  universal 
human  mind  and  heart — in  "  the  few  "  as  well  as 
in  "  the  many  ;  "  in  "  the  philosopher  "  as  well  as 
in  "  the  multitude  ;  '*  the  only  difference  being  that 
the  former  can  interpret  the  principles  which  the 
latter  only  feel,  and  give  clearer  articulation  to  the 
cry  which  the  latter  less  distinctly  raise.  It  is  an 
absurd  and  wicked  thing  to  set  the  many  and  the 
few  over  against  each  other  as  naturally  and  always 
opposed.  They  may  be  opposed.  And  in  any  act- 
ual case  of  opposition,  it  is  not  to  be  absolutely 
assumed  that  the  multitude  are  in  the  right  and 
the  few  in  the  wrong,  that  the  voice  of  the  multi- 
tude is  the  utterance  of  the  divinely  implanted  in- 
stincts of  the  race,  the  voice  of  the  few  a  denial  of 
them.     It  may  be  so  ;  but  the  odds  are  in  favor  of 


280      REMARKS    ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

the  contrary  presumption.  The  philosopher  is  sub- 
ject to  the  same  instinctive  impulses  towards  what 
is  right  and  good  as  the  multitude  ;  with  better 
cultivated  faculties  of  observation  and  reflection  ; 
knows  all  they  know,  and  more  too  ;  and  is  no  more 
subject  to  passion  and  prejudice  than  they.  It  is 
not  absolutely  certain  he  is  in  the  right ;  but  there 
is  a  fair  presumption  of  it. 

And  this  brings  us  out  to  the  general  conclusion 
we  have  to  propound  in  regard  to  Mr.  Bancroft's 
assertion.  If  made  as  an  absolute  assertion,  we 
contradict  it  as  false  ;  we  say,  the  many  are  not 
wiser  than  the  few  ;  the  multitude  than  the  philoso- 
pher. If  made  as  one  holding  generally  true,  we 
not  only  contradict  it,  but  we  assert  the  contrary  ; 
the  few  are  wiser  than  the  many  ;  the  philosopher 
than  the  multitude.  This  is  what  should,  in  aU 
good  reason,  be  the  case.  It  is  the  case.  And  it 
furnishes  the  needful  condition  for  the  progress  of 
the  general  mind,  so  far  as  progress  in  truth  and 
wisdom  are  the  result  of  the  working  of  the  reflec- 
tive faculties  of  man.  The  researches  of  the  disci- 
plined and  cultivated  few  become  difiused  as  the 
intelligence  of  the  many  ;  the  discoveries  of  the 
philosopher  as  the  enlightenment  of  the  multitude. 
Such  is  the  ordination  of  Providence.      God  has 


ON  HUMAN   PROGRESS.  281 

appointed  the  few  to  be  the  guides  of  the  many  ; 
the  philosopher  to  be  the  teacher  of  the  multitude. 
Guides  and  teachers  men  must  have  and  will  fol- 
low ;  and  if  they  choose  not  to  follow  those  of  God's 
appointment,  they  will  follow  those  of  the  Devil's 
ordaining. 

We  give  another  passage  immediately  following 
the  one  upon  which  we  have  so  long  dwelt  : 

"  The  social  condition  of  a  century,  its  faith,  its  insti- 
tutions, are  analogous  to  its  acquisitions.  Neithej  philos- 
ophy, nor  government,  nor  political  institutions,  nor  relig- 
ious knowledge,  can  remain  much  behind,  or  go  much  in 
advance,  of  the  totality  of  contemporary  intelligence. 
The  age  furnishes  to  the  master-builder  the  materials  with 
which  he  builds.  The  outbreak  of  a  revolution  is  the 
pulsation  of  the  time,  healthy  or  spasmodic  according  to 
its  harmony  with  the  civilization  from  which  it  springs. 
Each  new  philosophical  system  is  the  heliograph  of  an 
evanescent  condition  of  public  thought.  The  state  in 
which  we  are,  is  man's  natural  state  at  this  moment ; 
but  it  neither  should  be  nor  can  be  his  permanent  state, 
for  his  existence  is  flowing  on  in  eternal  change,  with 
nothing  fixed  but  the  certainty  of  change.  Now,  hy  the 
necessity  of  the  case,  the  movement  of  the  human  mind, 
taken  collectively,  is  always  towards  something  better.^'' 

Now  this  passage  is  an  instance,  among  others 
we  might  cite,  of  what  strikes  us  as  a  want  of  clear, 


282      REMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

just,  logically  coherent  thought.  Amidst  utter- 
ances plain  and  plainly  true,  are  some  we  are  com- 
pelled to  pronounce  untrue,  or  ohscure  and  doubt- 
ful. We  have  signalized,  by  our  mode  of  printing, 
those  which  dissatisfy  us. 

"  The  state  i7i  tvMch  we  are,  is  man's  natural 
state  at  this  moment.''  Assuming  that  something 
more  is  here  intended  than  the  identical  proposi- 
tion that  the  state  in  which  we  now  are,  is  the 
state  in  which  we  now  are,  what  is  intended  to  be 
understood  ?  What  is  meant  by  man's  '^  natural " 
state  in  this  connection  ?  Is  it  his  normal  state, 
his  proper  state,  the  state  in  which  he  should  be, 
according  to  the  idea  of  what  is  necessary  or  most 
fit  and  suitable  to  his  nature  ?  Then  we  deny  the 
assertion,  whether  as  a  principle  applicable  to  every 
historical  period,  or  as  a  fact  alleged  of  the  present. 
Or,  by  "  natural  state,''  is  it  intended  to  mean  the 
state  which  is  the  natural  result  of  foregoing  causes  ? 
If  so,  why  not  say  so  in  unambiguous  phrase  ? 
We  suppose  this  is  probably  what  is  meant,  from 
something  elsewhere  subsequently  said,  namely, 
that  ^  ^  the  present  state  of  the  world  is  accepted 
by  the  wise  and  benevolent  as  the  necessary  and 
natural  result  of  all  its  antecedents."  This  is  a 
different  proposition  from  the  one  in  question.     It 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  283 

is  clear  enough  in  its  meaning,  and  in  a  certain 
sense  true  enough.  But  to  say  that  man's  present 
state  is  his  '^natural  state/'  is,  in  the  first  and 
most  obvious  meaning  of  the  words,  to  say  that  it 
is  the  state  necessary  or  most  suitable  to  his  nature 
— a  proposition  which,  as  we  have  before  said,  we 
deny. 

Again  :  we  are  told  that  "  hy  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  the  movement  of  the  human  mind,  taken 
collectively,  is  always  towards  something  better" 
We  suppose  that  by  "  movement "  is  here  intended, 
not  any  instinctive  impulse  acting  upon  the  human 
mind,  and  which  must  therefore  be  perpetually  one 
and  the  same  in  its  nature  and  direction,  but  an 
actual  progress  of  the  mind.  We  suppose  so  from 
what  immediately  precedes,  and  because  it  is  the 
obvious  proper  meaning  of  the  words.  Now  we  do 
not  see  the  necessity  here  alleged.  It  is  undoubt- 
edly a  necessity  for  every  individual,  and  so  for  the 
human  race  taken  collectively,  that  reason  should 
conceive  and  conscience  command  them  to  become 
something  better  than  they  are  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual  sphere.  The  desire  for  well-being  in 
every  sphere  is  also  undoubtedly  a  necessary  desire 
in  human  nature.  But  we  do  not  see  that  this  en- 
genders any  necessity  that  the  actual  movement  of 


284      REMARKS    ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

the  human  mind  should  be  always  toward  some- 
thing better.  And  we  deny  that  such  is  always  the 
actual  direction  of  human  movement.  Individuals, 
nations,  the  race,  can  go  the  road  downward,  as 
well  as  the  road  upward  ;  and  at  various  periods 
have  done  so  from  age  to  age.  Histoiy  demon- 
strates this.  For  near  two  thousand  years  the 
movement  of  the  collective  human  mind  was  ever 
towards  something  worse — such  a  progressive  and 
accelerating  degeneracy  that  at  last  the  great  bulk 
of  the  race — all  but  one  family — had  to  be  swept 
from  the  earth,  and  humanity  made  to  begin  again 
anew.  Then  followed  another  long  period  of  more 
than  two  thousand  years,  during  which  humanity, 
starting  from  its  new  cradle  in  the  East,  unfolded 
itself  again  in  manifold  developments  from  its  rude 
patriarchal  condition.  Families  became  tribes ; 
tribes  nations ;  states  got  organized ;  industries 
became  more  diversified  and  improved  by  division 
of  labor,  thus  '  producing  interchange,  commerce. 
Then  came  culture — science,  art — first  displaying 
itself  in  the  infinite  striving  of  the  Oriental  mind, 
embodying  itself  in  vast  transcendental  myths,  in 
huge,  gigantic  symbols  ;  then  among  the  Greeks, 
as  the  sense  of  unity,  proportion  and  the  purely 
beautiful ;  and  lastly  among  the  Komans,  as  the 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  285 

most  perfect  organization  of  the  ideas  of  right  and 
law.  All  these  developments,  manifold  and  great. 
But  what,  after  all — applying  the  highest  rational 
standard,  the  only  true  criterion  by  which  to  esti- 
mate the  progress  of  man — what  was  the  progress 
of  humanity  during  that  long  period  .?  It  was  a 
progress  downward.  It  was  a  continual  degener- 
acy. In  the  first  place,  in  the  spiritual  sphere,  it 
was  the  loss — the  obscuration,  corruption,  and  well- 
nigh  total  extinction,  of  the  traditional  light  of  the 
primitive  revelation,  the  true  knowledge  of  Grod. 
The  struggle  between  pure  monotheism  and  the 
idolatrous  polytheistic  corruption  of  it  began  almost 
immediately  in  the  new  cradle  of  the  human  race 
— resulting  after  eight  hundred  years  in  the  com- 
plete victorious  establishment  of  polytheism.  The 
existence  of  monotheism  may  indeed  be  discerned 
for  six  hundred  years  more  ;  but  from  that  time  it 
was  utterly  driven  out  from  the  faith  of  all  the 
great  historical  peoples  of  the  earth,  and  survived 
nowhere  except  in  some  remote  wilds  and  moun- 
tains of  Asia  and  Europe. — In  the  second  place,  in 
the  political  and  social  sphere,  it  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  primitive  patriarchal  state,  and  the  es- 
tablishment, in  Asia,  of  the  pure  despotism  that 
has  existed  there  ever  since,  and  in  Europe,  of  a 


286      REMARKS    ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

pure  democracy,  giving  way  in  turn  to  oligarchy 
and  then  to  military  despotism. — And  finally,  in 
the  moral  sphere,  in  practical  life,  it  was  a  dete- 
rioration greater  than  which  cannot  well  be  con- 
ceived. No  public  and  little  private  virtue.  At 
the  close  of  this  period,  the  very  culminating 
point  of  the  ancient  civilization,  when  the  central- 
ization of  the  world  under  the  imperial  dominion 
of  Eome  was  perfected,  the  human  race  had  become 
more  thoroughly  corrupt  than  ever  before — every- 
where unprincipled  profligacy,  beastly  sensuality, 
filthy  vices,  unutterable  abominations  of  every  kind  ; 
whereof  St.  PauFs  description,  at  the  opening  of 
his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  is  but  a  faint  adumbra- 
tion compared  with  what  may  be  gathered  from  the 
literature  of  that  refined  and  polished  age.  Here 
was  the  progress  of  the  human  race,  its  spiritual, 
social,  moral  progress,  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years  !  Starting  from  the  pure  knowledge  of  the 
true  Grod,  from  the  simple  government,  the  rude 
morals  but  comparative  innocence,  of  the  patriarchal 
state  ;  and  ending  in  universal  polytheistic  idolatry, 
absolute  despotism,  and  unparalleled  social  and 
moral  degradation  and  vice.  Yet  we  are  told  that 
"  the  movement  of  the  human  mind  taken  collect- 
ively, is  always  towards  something  better  "  ! 


ON    HUMAN    PROGRESS.  287 

It  may  indeed  be  said  that  during  this  period 
humanity  was  being  prepared,  under  the  providence 
of  God,  for  that  grand  intervention  for  its  restora- 
tion which  at  the  end  of  it  was  historically  accom- 
plished in  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  No 
doubt  it  was  so.  Humanity  had  completely  un- 
folded itself  in  all  its  natural  faculties  and  powers, 
in  every  sphere — in  science,  art,  laws,  life.  It  had 
showed  itself  in  its  highest  and  brightest,  as  well 
as  in  its  lowest  and  darkest  aspects.  And  it  had 
demonstrated  its  insufficiency  for  itself.  It  had 
given  a  full  historical  demonstration,  on  a  world- 
wide stage,  of  its  radical  corruption,  of  its  entire 
inability  to  raise,  restore,  and  perfect  itself  Phi- 
losophers and  lawgivers,  sages  and  prophets,  had 
risen,  century  after  century,  and  labored  in  every 
way  at  the  problem  of  elevating  and  perfecting  the 
human  race — and  all  in  turn  had  failed.  Then 
undoubtedly  was  "  the  fulness  of  time,"  the  fitting 
occasion  for  the  Divine  intervention.  But  it  can- 
not be  said  on  this  account,  that  "ihe  movement 
of  the  human  mind  "  during  this  period  was  "  al- 
ways towards  something  better."  It  would  be  an 
abuse  of  language  to  use  it  in  this  way.  You 
might  as  well  say  a  long  career  of  crime,  termi- 
nating at  length  in  the  State  Prison,  was  always  a 


288        KEMARKS   ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

movement  of  a  bad  individual  towards  something 
better,  because  the  discipline  of  punishment  turned 
out  to  his  eventual  reformation ;  or  that  a  course 
of  profligate  intemperance,  inducing  at  length 
frightful  disease,  was  a  constant  progress  of  the 
profligate  towards  something  better,  because  the 
wholesome  dread  of  death  led  to  a  return  to  tem- 
perate and  healthful  habits. 

We  have  dwelt  thus  long  and  spoken  thus 
strongly  on  this  point,  because  we  think  the  doc- 
trine untrue  and  practically  mischievous.  For  the 
same  reason  we  would  signalize  the  following  pas- 
sage, putting  in  italics  the  sentences  we  particu- 
larly question  the  truth  of : 

"  The  course  of  civilization  flows  on  like  a  mighty 
river  through  a  boundless  valley,  calUng  to  the  streams 
from  every  side  to  swell  its  current,  which  is  always 
growing  wider  and  deeper^  and  clearer  as  it  rolls  along. 
Let  us  trust  ourselves  upon  its  bosom  without  fear,  nay, 
rather  with  confidence  and  joy.  Since  the  progress  of  the 
race  appears  to  be  the  great  purpose  of  Providence,  it  be- 
comes us  all  to  venerate  the  future.  We  must  be  ready  to 
sacrifice  ourselves  for  the  coming  generation,  as  they  in  turn 
must  live  for  their  posterity.  We  are  not  to  be  disheart- 
ened that  the  intimate  connection  of  humanity  renders  it 
impossible  for  any  one  portion  of  the  civilized  world  to 
be  much  in  advance  of  all  the  rest,  nor  to  grieve  because 
an  unalterable  condition  of  perfection   can  never  be  at- 


ON   HUMAN  PROGRESS.  289 

tained.  Every  thing  is  in  movement,  and  for  the  better  j 
except  only  the  fixed  eternal  law  by  which  the  necessity 
of  change  is  established ;  or  rather  except  only  God,  who 
includes  in  himself  all  being,  all  truth,  and  all  law.  The 
subject  of  man's  thoughts  remains  the  same,  but  the  sum 
of  his  acquisitions  ever  grows  with  time,  so  that  his  last 
system  of  philosophy  is  always  the  best,  for  it  includes 
every  one  that  went  before.  The  last  political  state  of 
the  world  likewise  is  ever  more  excellent  than  the  old,  for 
it  presents  in  activity  the  entire  inheritance  of  truth, 
fructified  by  the  living  and  moving  mind  of  a  more 
enlightened  generation,'''^     (P.  36.) 


Now  here,  as  before,  are  some  things  true,  some 
things  which  we  cannot  admit  as  true  ;  and  the 
general  drift  any  thing  but  sound  and  salutary. 
We  are  almost  tempted  to  call  it  pernicious  rigma- 
role. It  is  calculated  to  make  men  "  accept  the 
present  state  of  the  world  "  in  a  way  that  we  re- 
gard as  very  detrimental  to  true  progress.  True 
progress  begins  in  a  sense  of  the  need  of  reforma- 
tion. It  begins  in  mankind,  as  in  individuals,  with 
repentance,  and  that  begins  in  the  sense  of  sinful- 
ness and  evil.  And  the  promise  of  it  is  hopeful  in 
proportion  as  the  sense  of  sin  is  pervading  and 
deep.  It  is  a  poor  thing,  in  our  judgment,  to  tell 
mankind  at  this  age,  that  they  are  going  gloriously 

onward  in  a  perpetual  movement  towards  some- 
13 


290      KEMARKS    ON    MR.    BANCROFT'S    ORATION 

thing  better ;  which  something,  after  all,  as  it  is 
sure  to  be  generally  understood,  is  only  the  increase 
and  expansion  of  what  they  now  are.  It  just  makes 
men  satisfied  with  some  of  the  worst  characteris- 
tics of  the  age. 

We  are  probably  in  no  danger  of  a  return  to 
the  Atheistic  materialism  of  the  last  century,  still 
less  to  the  Polytheistic  idolatry  of  the  Eoman 
world.  Christianity  is  likely  to  be  the  prevailing, 
the  popular,  the  fashionable  religion,  so  far  as  a 
theoretic  adoption  of  its  formulas  and  a  deferential 
recognition  of  its  practical  claims  goes — provided 
they  do  not  become  too  troublesome.  The  present 
age,  above  all  others  that  have  ever  preceded  it,  is 

the   AGE    OF    THE    UNDERSTANDING — the   faculty  of 

adapting  means  to  ends  in  the  sphere  of  time  and 
sense.  Never,  in  all  former  ages  together,  has  the 
understanding  achieved  such  stupendous  triumphs 
as  in  the  last  fifty  years.  And  the  end  which  all 
these  achievements — discoveries,  inventions,  con- 
quests over  nature — are  made  to  serve  :  what  are 
they  ?  Mainly,  wealth  and  the  multi23lication  of 
the  means  and  refinements  of  enjoyment  or  other 
material  or  worldly  ends.  The  spirit  of  the  pres- 
ent age  is  the  spirit  of  the  intensest  worldliness 
and  self-willed  pride.     It  is  not  Atheistic  like  the 


ON    HUMAN   PROGRESS.  291 

spirit  of  the  last  age.  It  is  not  Polytheistic.  It 
believes  in  two  Deities  :  God  and  Mammon.  And 
never  was  the  imperial  government  of  Rome  more 
obstinately  determined  on  making  the  thousand 
gods  of  its  conquered  provinces  dwell  peaceably  to- 
gether in  the  Pantheon,  than  the  spirit  of  the 
present  age  is  on  reconciliDg  the  worship  of  God 
and  Mammon.  Mammon  has  the  heart  of  the  age ; 
and  if  God  would  be  content  with  a  temple  (a  fine 
one  sometimes,  when  it  gratifies  the  vanity  of  the 
builders,)  with  the  bended  knee,  and  with  the  ser- 
vice of  the  lip — on  Sundays, — that  would  be  an 
arrangement  profoundly  acceptable  to  the  taste  of 
the  age  ;  provided  also  that  God's  temples  may  be 
torn  down  and  the  consecrated  earth  carted  off  to 
fill  up  lots  with,  whenever  the  age  wishes  to  dig 
the  deep  foundations  of  some  Mammon's  temple  on 
the  sacred  ground. 


PRESIDENT  mmm  and  national  comuption. 

THREE  letters  TO  THE  HON.  JOSIAH  QUINCY. 


PRESIDENT  MAKINa  AND  NATIONAL   COR- 
RUPTION. 

THREE  LETTERS  TO  THE  HON.  JOSIAH  QUINCY. 
LETTEE  L—DEPAETUEE  FEOM  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


My  Dear  Sir  :  In  concluding  to  print  some  re- 
flections I  had  set  down  on  the  practical  working 
of  our  political  system  in  the  matter  of  filling  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  it  was 
natural  for  me  to  cast  about  for  some  one  through 
whom  I  might  address  the  public  with  better  hope 
of  gaining  attention  to  my  thoughts  than  my  own 
humble  and  unknown  name  could  warrant.  Among 
all  those  whose  names  hold  (and  justly)  an  honored 
place  in  the  regards  of  intelligent  and  good  men, 
there  is  none  stands  higher  than  yours  for  pure 
patriotism  and  unsullied  integrity,  for  every  public 


296  PKESIDENT  MAKINa. 

and  every  private  virtue,  tlirougli  a  long  life 
devoted  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  to  the  public 
service. 

In  availing  myself  of  your  frank  and  cordial 
permission  to  address  these  letters  to  you,  I  not 
only  gratify  long-cberisLed  sentiments  of  respect 
and  admiration,  inspired  by  the  principles  and 
course  of  your  public  life,  and  of  personal  regard 
linked  with  the  recollections  of  my  youthful  days, 
when  I  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  your  society  and  the 
benefits  of  your  wisdom  ;  but  I  please  myself  with 
thinking  there  is  a  special  fitness  in  placing  myself 
under  the  patronage  of  your  venerable  name  in 
putting  forth  the  considerations  I  am  about  to 
present. 

I  propose  to  point  out  evils  and  dangers  which 
are  in  a  great  measure  the  result  of  departing  from 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  consider 
whether  any  thing  can  be  devised  to  remedy  or  to 
lessen  them.  You  are  one  of  the  very  few  survivors, 
if  not  the  last,  among  those  statesmen  whose  youth 
was  cradled  and  nurtured  amid  the  men  and  princi- 
ples and  sentiments  that  presided  at  the  foundation 
of  our  government. 

You  teU  me,  indeed,  that  "  our  country  is  ap- 
parently running  a  career  in  which  Constitutional 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.        297 

amendments,  however  wise,  cannot  be  effected,  and 
if  effected  would  be  of  little  avail."  I  agree  with 
you  in  thinking  there  is  little  reason  to  expect  de- 
sirable Constitutional  amendments.  I  am  quite 
clear  the  one  I  shall  suggest  runs  very  little  chance 
of  getting  practically  accomplished.  That  may  be 
a  sufficient  reason  for  a  wise  statesman  not  under- 
taking to  accomplish  it,  but  no  reason  whatever  for 
not  entertaining  the  question,  whether  it  would  not 
be  weU  to  adopt  it.  As  to  the  other  part  of  your 
remark,  I  hope  to  satisfy  you,  when  you  come  to 
look  at  it,  that  if  the  change  I  venture  to  suggest 
were  adopted,  it  would  be  of  very  considerable  avail. 
Meantime,  I  am  sure  the  discussion  will  have 
interest  enough  to  secure  your  attention,  and  I  hope 
that  of  other  candid  and  thoughtful  persons,  even 
if  it  be  regarded  merely  in  the  light  of  a  politi- 
cal speculation,  a  disquisition  on  the  science  of 
Constitutional  government.  Truth  is  truth,  in 
the  political  as  in  every  other  sphere,  and  ought 
to  command,  at  least,  the  homage  of  respectful 
acknowledgment.  Let  it  get  that,  and  it  may 
possibly,  in  time,  win  more.  Any  honest  attempt 
to  set  it  forth  is  entitled  at  least  to  kindly  indul- 
gence. 

But  the  great  purport  and  main  substance  of 
13* 


298  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

my  labor  is  to  call  attention  to  undeniable  facts 
which  it  is  infinitely  important  for  the  welfare  of 
the  nation  should  be  brought  homo  to  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  The 
first  condition  of  salvation  is  to  understand  and  feel 
the  evils  and  dangers  that  environ  us.  "  To 
enlighten  and  difi'use  sound  principles  among  the 
multitude/'  you  tell  me  is,  in  your  judgment,  "  the 
highest  and  most  hopeful  of  benefit,  of  all  the  labors 
of  patriotism."  If  "  the  few  are  lost  to  every  thing 
but  their  own  ambition,  or  their  own  interests,  the 
many  may  be  influenced."  I  thanlr  you  for  think- 
ing I  may  in  this  way  do  some  good. 

I  shall  therefore  proceed  first  to  show  how  the 
intention  of  the  Constitution,  so  far  as  relates  to 
the  mode  of  choosing  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  is  not  only  frustrated,  but  completely  re- 
versed— what  its  provisions  were  intended  to  secure 
being  done,  is  not  done,  and  what  they  intended 
to  prevent  being  done,  is  constantly  done.  It  would 
be  sufficient  merely  to  advert  to  this  if  I  were  writ- 
ing only  for  you,  and  those  who,  like  you,  are  familiar 
with  the  Constitution  and  its  working.  But  there 
are  great  numbers  who  have  never  given  particular 
attention  to  the  matter. 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.         299 

The  Constitution  commits  the  choice  of  Presi- 
dent neither  to  a  popular  vote,  nor  to  the  State 
Legislatures,  nor  to  the  Federal  Legislature  (except 
partially  in  a  certain  exigency),  nor  to  any  perma- 
nently existing  body  of  functionaries  ;  but  to  a  cer- 
tain number  of  electors  temporarily  appointed  for 
this  sole  purpose.  These  electors  emerging  on  a 
given  day  from  the  mass  of  the  people,  meeting, 
not  in  one  grand  Electoral  College,  but,  in  separate 
Colleges  in  their  respective  States,  on  the  same  day 
throughout  the  Union,  cast  their  votes  by  ballot. 
This  done,  and  the  record  dispatched  to  the  seat 
of  Government,  their  function  is  ended,  and  they 
are  left  to  return  again  into  the  mass  of  the  people 
as  suddenly  as  they  emerged. 

What  is  the  object  of  these  provisions  ?  Plainly 
this  :  on  the  one  hand  to  avoid  the  evils  and  dan- 
gers of  a  popular  election — the  demoralizing  influ- 
ences, the  excitement  and  tumult,  corruption,  and 
violence  to  be  apprehended  from  the  struggles  of 
rival  candidates,  rival  combinations  of  partisan  lead- 
ers, and  conflicting  parties  and  factions  among  the 
masses  of  the  people  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  to 
guard,  as  far  as  possible,  against  the  liabilities  to 
intrigue,  bargain,  and  corruption,  incident  to  com- 
mitting the  choice  to  a  smaller  body — and  to  do 


300  PKESIDENT  MAKING. 

this  by  securing  the  appointment  of  a  considerable 
number  of  independent  electors  intellectually  and 
morally  competent  to  the  high  trust,  and  removed 
by  the  circumstances  under  which  they  act  from  the 
reach  of  temptations  to  abuse  their  trust.  The 
provision  under  which  the  electors  are  to  cast  their 
votes  not  in  one  College,  but  in  separate  Colleges 
in  each  of  the  States,  and  on  the  same  day  through- 
out the  Union,  is  specially  intended  to  prevent 
intrigues  and  corrupt  coalitions  among  the  electors 
themselves,  and  to  render  it  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, for  ambitious  candidates  to  exercise  an  im- 
proper influence  over  them.  And  if  we  consider 
the  state  of  communication  then  existing,  and,  for 
aught  that  was  then  known,  likely  to  continue — 
when  steamers,  railways,  and  electric  telegraphs 
were  things  undreamed  of  by  the  wildest  dreamers 
— ^it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  framers  of  our 
Constitution  looked  upon  it  as  a  thing  next  to 
impossible  for  ambitious  aspirants  to  bring  any  or- 
ganized and  effective  scheme  of  corrupt  influence, 
or  influence  of  any  kind,  to  bear  upon  the  electors, 
dispersed  as  they  were  throughout  the  country.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  purpose  of  these 
provisions  went  even  to  the  extent  of  preventing 
the  office  of  President  from  being  a  possible  object 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.        301 

of  ambition,  in  the  old  original  sense  of  the  word, 
by  putting  it  out  of  the  power  of  candidates  to  get 
at  and  so  to  get  around  (ambire)  the  persons  upon 
whom  the  choice  devolved. 

It  is  undeniably  the  theory  of  our  government 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  their  sove- 
reign capacity,  delegate  the  choice  of  President  to 
the  discretion  of  the  electors — that  the  electors  are 
to  be  held  as  fit  persons  to  be  intrusted  with  this 
discretion  ;  and  that  in  their  several  Colleges  they 
are  to  exercise  the  function  of  a  free  and  independ- 
ent choice,  subject  only  to  the  high  moral  responsi- 
bility of  choosing  the  man  they  find  best  fitted  for 
the  office. 

This  is  the  theory  of  the  Constitution,  lying  on 
the  very  face  of  its  provisions.  That  such  was  the 
intention  of  its  framers,  may  be  seen  in  the  Feder- 
alist at  large.  And  such  has  been  the  interpretation 
of  its  provisions  by  all  the  commentators  since  its 
adoption. 

"  The  theory  of  this  mode  of  election,"  says  Mr. 
Bayard,  * '  evidently  is  that  the  people  should  dele- 
gate their  right  of  choice  to  a  select  body  of  men 
in  whose  Judgment  they  could  confide,  and  with 
whom  it  would  rest  to  elect  the  persons  in  their 
opinion  best  qualified  for  the  stations."  * 

*  Bayard  on  the  Constitution,  p.  102. 


302  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

"It  was  found  expedient/'  says  Mr.  Kawle, 
"  that  the  President  should  owe  his  election  neither 
directly  to  the  people,  nor  to  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States,  yet  that  these  Legislatures  should  create 
a  select  body,  to  be  drawn  from  the  people,  who,  in 
the  most  independent  and  unbiassed  manner  should 

elect  the  President It  was  supposed  that  the 

election  would  be  committed  to  men  not  likely  to 
be  swayed  by  party  or  personal  bias,  who  would  act 
under  no  combination  with  others,  and  be  subject 
neither  to  intimidation  nor  corruption."  * 

To  the  same  effect,  Mr.  Justice  Story,  who 
sums  up  the  intentions  of  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution and  their  arguments  in  favor  of  this  mode  of 
election,  as  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Madison, 
Hamilton  and  Jay,  in  the  Federalist.  "  It  was 
thought,"  he  says  ,  "  that  the  immediate  election 
should  be  made  by  men  the  most  capable  of  analyz- 
ing the  qualities  adapted  to  the  station,  and  acting 
under  circumstances  favorable  to  deliberation  and  a 
judicious  combination  of  all  the  inducements  which 
ought  to  govern  their  choice.  A  small  number  of 
persons,  selected  by  their  fellow-citizens  from  the 
general  mass  for  this  special  object,  would  be  most 
likely  to  possess  the  information  and  discernment, 

*  Rawle,  52,  67. 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.        303 

and  independence  essential  to  the  proper  discliarge 
of  the  duty."  » 

It  was  thus  intended  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  should  owe  his  election  to  the  free^ 
unbiassed  suffrages  of  the  electors,  acting  as  the 
trusted  representatives  of  the  people  ;  that,  in  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  vote,  as  well  as  in 
the  characters  of  the  men,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  should  have  the  strongest  possible  guaranties 
that  the  electors  would  cast  their  ballots  under  a 
full  sense  of  their  high  moral  responsibility  to  choose 
the  best  man  they  could  elect,  but  subject  to  no 
other  responsibility,  and  governed  by  no  other  influ- 
ence ;  and  also  that  in  the  person  elected  by  the 
concurrent  votes  of  such  men,  under  such  circum- 
stances, the  people  would  have  the  strongest  possi- 
ble guaranties  for  obtaining  a  President  eminently 
qualified  for  the  high  office  ;  and  finally,  that  by 
such  a  mode  of  election,  the  President,  not  owing 
his  elevation  to  power  to  corrupt  arts,  would  enter 
upon  his  duties,  on  the  one  hand,  free  from  all 
temptations  to  a  corrupt  use  of  the  patronage  of  his 
office — seeing  he  would  have  nobody  to  reward  or 
punish  for  exertions  for  or  against  his  election,  and 
nobody  to  buy  in  order  to  secure  his  re-election  ; 

*  Story,  Comment.  III.   315.     Federalist,  No.  68. 


304  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

and,  on  the  other  hand,  equally  unbound  by  po- 
litical pledges,  and  so  left  free  to  administer  the- 
government,  not  in  the  interests  or  passions  of  a 
party  or  a  section,  but  as  President  of  the  whole 
nation. 

Now,  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  actual 
working  of  our  system,  nothing  more  than  this  bare 
recital  is  necessary  to  show  how  entirely  the  inten- 
tion of  the  Constitution  in  this  matter  is  overborne 
and  nullified.  Its  provisions  are  in  efiect  complete- 
ly reversed  in  every  particular. 

In  point  of  fact,  no  discretion  is  allowed  to  the 
electors.  "  In  no  respect,"  says  Mr.  Kawle,  "  have 
the  enlarged  and  profound  views  of  those  who  framed 
the  Constitution,  or  the  expectations  of  the  people 
when  they  adopted  it,  been  so  completely  frustrated 
as  in  the  practical  operation  of  the  system  so  far 

as  relates  to  the  independence  of  the  electors 

They  do  not  assemble  in  their  respective  States  for 
a  free  exercise  of  their  own  judgments,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  the  particular  candidate  who 
happens  to  be  preferred  by  the  predominant  politi- 
cal party  which  has  chosen  the  electors.  In  some 
instances,  the  principles  on  which  they  are  chosen 
are  so  far  forgotten  that  the  electors  publicly  pledge 
themselves  to  vote  for  a  particular  individual,  and 


DEPARTUKE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.    305 

thus  the  whole  foundation  of  this  elaborate  system 
is  destroyed." 

So  wrote  Mr.  Kawle  more  than  thirty  years 
ago.  What  was  the  case  then  is  more  comj)letely 
and  universally  the  case  now  ;  if  there  were  any  in- 
stances in  which  electors  exercised  an  independent 
discretion  then,  there  are  none  now  ;  and  whether 
they  give  public  pledges  or  not,  it  is  understood  on 
all  hands,  both  by  themselves  and  those  who  vote 
for  them,  that  they  are  all  pledged  to  vote  for  a 
particular  candidate — otherwise  they  would  never 
be  chosen  ;  and  so  completely  is  the  intention  of 
the  Constitution  subverted  that  an  independent  ex- 
ercise of  discretion  would  be  considered  a  dishon- 
orable breach  of  trust ;  and  thus  (to  speak  in  Hi- 
bernian fashion)  the  only  alternative  the  electors 
have  is  not  to  be  elected,  unless  they  are  willing  to 
be  parties  and  agents  in  doing  what  the  Constitu- 
tion not  only  does  not  intend  should  be  done,  but 
what  it  positively  intended  should  not  be  done. 
If  they  shrink  from  this,  they  cannot  honorably 
permit  themselves  to  be  chosen  electors.  They 
must  choose  between  a  breach  of  trust  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  a  breach  of  trust  to  their  party  ;  and 
this  is  all  the  discretion  left. 

The  electors  are  thus  wholly  divested  of  their 


306  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

constitutional  character  and  functions.  They  are 
no  longer  a  body  of  independent  electors,  but  a 
mere  board  of  registry,  giving  formal  authentication 
to  a  popular  vote.  For  the  people,  in  point  of  fact, 
choose  the  President  while  nominally  voting  only 
for  electors  ;  and  in  this  view  of  the  case  the  inten- 
tion of  the  Constitution  is  also  completely  frus- 
trated. It  was  no  more  intended  that  there  should 
be  a  popular  vote  designating  to  the  electors  an 
individual  to  be  chosen  by  them,  than  that  the 
President  should  be  directly  chosen  by  a  popular 
vote.  Such  a  designation  is  not,  indeed,  expressly 
forbidden  in  the  Constitution,  but  it  is  palpably 
contrary  to  the  whole  spirit  and  most  positive  inten- 
tion of  its  actual  provisions  ;  and  to  suppose  that 
any  such  designation,  if  made,  would  or  should  be  of 
any  binding  force  upon  the  electors,  is  to  render  the 
whole  system  of  Electoral  Colleges  a  needless  device, 
a  clumsy  farce — making  pretence  of  doing  what 
was  already  in  point  of  fact  effectually  done  before, 
a  farce  which  the  sooner  it  were  put  an  end  to  the 
better. 

We  thus  see  that  what  the  Constitution  intend- 
ed should  be  done,  is  not  done  ;  and  what  it  in- 
tended should  not  be  done,  is  constantly  done.  It 
intended  the  electors  should  choose  the  President, 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  CONSTITUTION.         307 

and  they  do  not :  it  intended  that  the  people  should 
not  choose  him,  and  they  do. 

This  is  notorious  and  undeniable.  Nobody 
thinks  of  denying  it,  and  hardly  anybody  thinks  it 
any  thing  to  be  troubled  about.  Nay,  there  are 
those  who  justify  it,  on  the  ground  that  such  is  the 
WiU  of  the  People,  and  that  the  people  have  a 
sovereign  right  to  have  their  own  will  any  way. 
Some  say  this  because  they  do  not  know  any  bet- 
ter, and  some  in  spite  of  knowing  better.  The  for- 
mer are  weak  dupes  of  w^ords,  whom  the  latter 
(sharp  demagogues)  make  dupes  of  by  the  abuse 
of  words.  The  former  say  it  because  they  do  not 
see — the  latter  in  spite  of  seeing  its  futility  and 
fallacy.  For  it  is  too  clear  to  need  be  argued — it 
belongs  to  the  very  rudiments  of  the  science  of 
government — that  the  people  may,  if  they  choose, 
embody  their  sovereign  will  in  a  Constitution,  and 
may  delegate  their  sovereign  right  of  choosing  their 
Chief  Magistrate  to  a  body  of  independent  electors 
if  they  see  fit.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
have  done  so  ;  and  so  long  as  the  Constitution 
stands,  the  sovereign  will  of  the  people  is  embodied 
there,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  numerical  majority 
of  the  peox)le.  The  present  will  of  a  numerical 
majority  is  not  the  sovereign  will  of  the  people. 
Bo  long  as  the  Constitution  stands,  it  is  the  sov- 


308  PEESIDENT  MAKING. 

ereign  will  of  the  people  that  the  people  shall  not 
choose  their  President  by  a  popular  vote.  If  the 
people  do  not  like  this,  if  they  wish  to  choose  their 
President  by  a  popular  vote,  then  in  the  exercise 
of  their  sovereign  power  they  should  alter  the  Con- 
stitution. They  can  then  have  what  they  want  in 
a  regular  way,  and  far  more  perfectly  than  by  the 
present  system  of  perverting  the  Constitution,  un- 
der which  it  may  happen,  and  has  happened,  that 
the  President  is  chosen  neither  by  the  suffrages  of 
independent  electors,  as  the  Constitution  intended, 
nor  by  the  majority  of  the  people,  as  these  persons 
claim  should  be  the  case,  but  by  a  minority  of  them. 
But  so  long  as  the  Constitution  stands,  its  inten- 
tions should  be  carried  out,  not  frustrated.  There 
is  no  end  of  fervors  of  devotion  to  the  Constitution, 
no  end  of  loving  jealousy  for  the  preservation  of  its 
integrity,  when  sectional  or  party  interests  are  to 
be  secured  by  scrupulous  adherence  to  it :  it  is  then 
something  altogether  sacred  and  inviolable.  But 
when  the  violation  of  it  serves  those  interests,  its 
plainest  intentious  may  be  violated,  and  the  viola- 
tion justified  by  fallacious  phrases  which  delude  no- 
body but  the  unreflecting  masses  whom  demagogues 
hold  are  made  to  be  their  dupes. 

I  shall  next  consider  the  evils  and  dangers  re- 
sulting from  this  departure  from  the  Constitution. 


PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

LETTER  II.— EVIL  CONSEQUENCES. 


My  Deak  Sir  :  The  perversion  of  tlie  intention 
of  the  Constitution  wMcli  we  have  considered  might 
be  thought  not  to  matter  much  in  a  practical  view, 
if  only  it  worked  well.  But  it  does  not  work  well. 
It  works  badly  every  way. 

It  has  made  President  making  the  chief  politi- 
cal business  of  the  nation.  It  has  carried  this  bu- 
siness into  Congress,  into  the  State  Legislatures, 
into  aU  State  elections  and  all  municipal  elections, 
converting  aU  public  offices  and  employments  of 
nearly  every  sort  and  kind  into  means  and  instru- 
ments for  carrying  this  business  on  ;  in  short,  it 
has  carried  this  business  everywhere  and  into  every 
thing  ;  and  with  pernicious  influence  everywhere 
and  upon  every  thing — upon  the  legislative  bodies 
— ^National  and  State  ;  upon  all  public  functiona- 


310  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

ries  ;  upon  political  parties  ;  upon  the  press  ;  upon 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  throughout  the  coun- 
try ;  upon  the  candidates  they  vote  for  ;  upon  the 
man  they  choose,  and  upon  the  administration  of 
the  Government  he  takes  in  hand. 

An  exact  and  complete  analysis  of  the  actual 
working  of  our  system  in  all  these  particulars  would 
put  the  truth  of  these  assertions  into  clear  and  bold 
relief.  But  it  would  take  volumes.  I  must  con- 
tent myself  with  briefer  indications. 

Our  system  has  called  into  existence  a  race  of 
men,  the  like  of  whom,  on  an  equal  scale,  exists 
nowhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth — the  race  of  poli- 
ticians, not  in  the  old,  better  sense,  the  word  by  its 
origin  was  meant  to  bear — men  versed  in  the  prin- 
ciples which  constitute  the  polity  of  nations  and 
the  science  of  right  government ;  nor  men  ambi- 
tious of  the  highest  public  trusts,  because  they  are 
conscious  of  abilities  to  serve  their  country  and  of 
the  impulse  to  do  so,  and  whose  motives,  if  not  ab- 
solutely unselfish,  have  in  them  nothing  sordid, 
nothing  lower  than  the  natural  and  respectable  de- 
sire for  honorable  distinction  in  a  high  public  ca- 
reer ;  but,  politicians  in  the  low  sense  they  have 
degraded  the  word  to  bear — ^political  intriguers,  sa- 
gacious demagogues,  clever  in  electioneering  arts, 


EVIL  CONSEQUENCES.  311 

cunning  in  contriving  and  skillful  in  managing  the 
complicated  macHnery  by  which  the  ballot-box  may 
be  made  to  serve  their  purposes.  A  most  perni- 
cious race.     The  great  curse  of  the  nation. 

These  men,  acting  on  the  well  established  un- 
derstanding that  they  who  help  make  the  President 
shall  share  in  the  patronage  of  his  office,  have  taken 
possession  of  the  country  for  carrying  on  the  busi- 
ness of  President  making  in  the  interests  of  the 
great  parties  to  which  they  attach  themselves  for 
the  furtherance  of  their  own  ends. 

Each  of  the  great  conflicting  parties — always 
two,  and  sometimes  more — ^puts  forward  its  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency,  nominated  by  a  general 
convention  of  the  party  composed  of  delegates  from 
every  State,  chosen  for  the  purpose  under  the  guid- 
ance of  these  poHtical  managers,  and  in  the  choice 
of  which,  (as  well  as  in  the  nomination  of  electors,) 
especially  in  the  primary  assemblies,  the  most  re- 
spectable portion  of  the  people  have  but  little  share 
and  less  influence. 

The  nominations  made,  then  begins  the  cam- 
paign, as  it  is  significantly  termed.  The  whole 
country  is  converted  into  a  battle-field  for  the  con- 
flict of  rival  parties  contending  in  dual  or  in  trian- 
gular warfare.     The  whole  nation  is  involved  in  the 


312  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

din  and  smoke  of  the  hot  contest.  Nearly  every 
thing  is  drawn  into  it  and  made  to  turn  upon  it — 
even  to  the  filling  of  the  pettiest  municipal  office 
in  the  smallest  hamlet  in  the  land.  If  any  man  in 
the  United  States  wants  a  public  office  or  employ- 
ment of  any  sort,  under  the  Federal,  or  any  State,  or 
Municipal  Government,  he  must  enroll  himself  in 
the  ranks  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  great  parties, 
and  make  himself  serviceable  in  proportion  to  the 
prize  he  seeks.  He  must  work  hard,  and  not  be 
over  scrupulous  in  his  work.  There  is  dirty  work 
to  be  done  ;  but  since  there  are  tens  of  thousands 
whose  ardent  longings  are  fixed  on  offices  or  jobs, 
and  among  them  thousands  of  men  who  are  by  no 
means  of  the  most  respectable  sort,  (or  to  say  it 
clearly  out,  a  multitude  of  needy,  gree4y,  unprin- 
cipled men,)  so  there  is  no  lack  of  willing  hands  to 
do  the  work  which  the  upper  leaders  see  needful  to 
be  done  but  may  not  quite  like  to  do  themselves. 

So  the  contest  goes  on — with  most  admirable 
perfection  of  organization  of  every  sort  of  influence 
— managing  committees  everywhere,  general,  state, 
county  and  town  ;  newspapers  established,  bought, 
subsidized ;  pamphlets,  speeches,  and  documents 
dispersed  everywhere,  printed  paper  enough  to  cover 
three  or  four-fold  thick  every  square  foot  of  land 


EVIL  CONSEQUENCES.  313 

throughout  the  country — in  short,  the  whole  mighty 
enginery  of  the  press  organized  and  set  in  motion, 
teeming  with  appeals  to  the  ignorance,  and  prejudices, 
and  passions  of  the  people,  stirring  them  up  to  the 
height  of  partisan  excitement ;  while,  to  intensify 
the  excitement  in  the  breasts  of  the  masses,  more 
apt  to  be  stirred  by  the  living  voice  than  by  the 
printed  word,  rival  hosts  of  demagogue  orators  and 
smart  stipendiary  lecturers  spread  themselves  over 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country,  haranguing 
the  people  in  aU  sorts  of  assemblies,  ward  meetings, 
town  meetings,  county  meetings  and  monster  mass 
meetings  where  men  are  counted  by  acres  and  not 
by  numbers.  And  probably  there  are  more  calcu- 
lated lies  (to  say  nothing  of  a  considerable  amount 
of  perjury  and  false  swearing)  perpetrated  in  the 
United  States  to  serve  the  ends  of  parties  during  a 
"  Presidential  Campaign,"  than  in  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  for  any  political  purpose  in  a  dozen  years. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  moreover 
staked  in  bets  upon  the  issue,  putting  into  ener- 
getic activity  thousands  of  unscrupulous  agents 
moved  by  cupidity,  or  by  the  mere  gambling  spirit 
that  seeks  to  win  for  the  winning's  sake. 

Then,  to  get  at  the  baser  sorts,  whom  the  in- 
flammatory influence  of  the  press  or  partisan  speech- 
14  • 


314  PKESIDENT  MAKING. 

making  cannot  make  serviceable^  a  host  of  stipen- 
diary tools,  bought  with  money  or  with  promises 
of  offices  or  jobs,  are  everywhere  zealously  at  work 
in  all  grog-shops  and  hells  before  the  day,  and  at 
the  polls  on  the  great  day  of  choosing  the  Presi- 
dential electors — venal  buyers  of  venal  votes  at  a 
dollar  a  head  or  more,  as  the  case  may  be.  Every- 
body knows,  or  has  moral  certainty  of  conviction, 
that  immense  sums  are  thus  spent  in  buying  votes, 
especially  the  votes  of  that  admirable  class  of  free 
voters,  our  adopted  and  recently  imported  citizens. 
An  edifying  spectacle  of  the  working  of  democratic 
institutions,  and  of  the  sacred  right  of  universal 
suffrage  ! 

In  the  hot  ferments  of  our  Presidential  elections 
all  the  social  froth  and  scum  of  the  nation  are 
brought  to  the  top  of  the  seething  cauldron.  All 
the  worst  elements,  the  most  disreputable  members 
of  society,  the  bankrupt  in  character  and  good  name, 
blacklegs  and  blackguards,  loom  up  into  loathsome 
prominence  and  activity.  Bullies  and  rowdies 
throng  the  voting  places,  making  them  scenes  of 
drunken  violence  and  vulgar  brutalities,  destroying 
the  propriety  and  obstructing  the  business  of  the 
polls,  disgusting  the  decent,  and  frightening  the 


EVIL  CONSEQUENCES,  315 

feeble,  the  aged,  and  the  timid,  from  the  exercise 
of  their  rights  and  duties.^-' 

In  short,  looking  at  this  whole  party-managing, 
people-managing,  press-using,  vote-buying  system, 
it  is  scarcely  possible  to  imagine  any  thing  more 
powerful  to  corrupt  the  public  and  private  morals 
of  a  nation,  to  eat  out  of  the  heart  of  a  people  all 
reverence  for  law  and  justice,  truth  and  righteous- 
ness— all  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  any  thing  in 
heaven  or  on  earth. 

Meanwhile,  as  part  and  parcel,  cause  and  effect 
of  these  processes  of  popular  demoralization,  the 
halls  of  Congress  and  of  the  State  Legislatures  are 
filled,  not  with  the  best,  but  with  the  most  availa- 
ble men  for  party  ends  ;  and  we  have  caucus  rec- 
ommendations, resolutions  offered  and  speeches 
made,  with  a  view  to  affect  the  issue  of  the  Presi- 
dential contest — all  this  tending  to  lower  the  tone, 
impair  the  dignity  and  corrupt  the  integrity  of  our 
legislators,  and  to  interfere  with  the  proper  legisla- 
tive business  of  the  States  and  of  the  nation.  If 
it  were  not  for  this  business  of  President  making, 
all  the  proper  legislative  business  of  the  nation  in 
Congress  might  be  better  done  in  half  the  time. 

*  See  at  the  end  of  this  volume  the  development  of  an  organ- 
ized system  of  violence  and  brutal  outrage  far  surpassing  any  thing 
suggested  above,  brought  to  light  since  the  above  was  written. 


316  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

Then,  too,  the  weight  of  Executive  influence  is 
generally  thrown  into  the  scale  of  one  or  the  other 
of  the  great  contending  parties  ;  the  whole  vast 
army  of  official  functionaries  is  put  under  the  ne- 
cessity, willingly  or  unwillingly,  of  giving  their 
votes,  their  influence,  and  a  tax  on  their  salaries  to 
secure  the  victory  of  the  favored  party  ;  and  ordi- 
narily the  chances  are  ten  to  one  in  favor  of  the 
success  of  the  party  that  can  command  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Executive,  with  the  Treasury  at  his 
back.  We  say  ordinarily,  for  it  is  only  in  great 
exigencies  which  reach  the  universal  pocket  of  the 
nation,  or  in  the  rarer  cases  when  the  sense  of  pub- 
lic interest  and  the  sense  of  public  right  conspire 
to  arouse  the  great  heart  and  conscience  of  the  na- 
tion, and  to  break  down  all  old  party  lines  and 
party  disciplines — it  is  only  in  such  great  emergen- 
cies that  the  odds  are  not  almost  sure  to  the  party 
in  power. 

Meantime,  what  the  influence  of  all  this  is  upon 
the  candidates  for  the  Presidency  it  is  easy  to  see. 
When  the  nominations  for  President  were  made  in 
the  great  party  conventions,  the  question  was  not 
about  the  best  man  for  the  office,  but  about  the 
best  man  for  party  success.  The  candidate  selected 
was  obliged  to  stretch  himself,  or  to  contract  him- 


EVIL  CONSEQUENCES.  317 

self  upon  the  platform  framed  for  him,  and  stands 
— lies  we  should  say — before  the  country  the  candi- 
date of  a  party. 

The  successful  candidate  in  entering  upon  office 
has  until  lately  found  it  proper  to  repudiate  in  de- 
cent formulas  of  phrase  the  notion  of  administer- 
ing the  government  merely  as  the  chief  of  a  party. 
It  is  not  thought  needful  to  make  any  such  dis- 
claimer now.  But  whether  he  does  or  not,  he  en- 
ters upon  office  bound  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment in  the  interests  of  his  party — pledged  to  re- 
ward the  party  leaders  who  placed  hirn  in  power, 
and  on  whom  he  must  depend  for  support,  and  so 
with  every  temptation  to  a  corrupt  use  of  the  pow- 
er and  patronage  of  his  office.  Claimants  come 
clamoring  thick  around  him.  The  eagles,  and  all 
obscene  birds  of  prey — ^kites,  hawks,  and  carrion 
crows — gather  to  the  sharing  of  the  spoils.  Per- 
sons whom  no  honest  man  would  like  to  shake 
hands  with,  or  introduce  to  his  wife  and  daughters, 
are  received  at  the  White  House,  and  go  out  re- 
warded with  public  places.  Men,  whom  in  the 
neighborhood  of  their  own  homes  nobody  would 
trust,  are  put  in  offices  of  public  trust.  The  de- 
mands of  political  parties  allow  but  little  scope  for 
delicacies  of  private  taste  or  scrupulous  regards  of 
any  sort. 


318  PRESIDEKT  MAKING. 

But  the  worst  effect  of  our  system  upon  the  re- 
lations of  political  parties  to  the  administration  of 
the  Government  remains  to  be  noticed. 

In  the  theory  of  the  working  of  constitutional 
governments,  political  parties  have  an  important 
place.  They  may  and  should  have  a  wholesome 
influence,  as  a  means  of  maintaining  the  intergrity 
of  the  Constitution,  the  independence  of  its  coor- 
dinate powers,  and  in  protecting  the  country  against 
abuses  of  Executive  power.  But  under  our  actual 
system,  these  legitimate,  conservative  influences  are 
nearly  lost,  and  almost  nothing  is  left  but  the  evils 
necessarily  incident  to  the  existence  of  parties  ; 
indeed,  political  parties  have  become  a  source  of 
the  greatest  possible  danger,  through  the  natural 
disposition  of  the  great  mass  of  the  members  of 
the  dominant  party  throughout  the  country  to  ac- 
quiesce in,  to  approve  and  sustain  whatever  is  done 
by  the  man  whom  they  have  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  nation.  In  their  eyes  he  stands  there  the  chief 
of  their  party  ;  that  party  is  the  majority  of  the 
people  ;  it  is  all  right,  in  their  notion,  that  their 
will  should  prevail.  The  President  is  the  reflection 
of  their  will.  They  have  triumphed  in  his  election  ; 
he  is  the  eminent  proclamation  and  embodied  rep- 
resentation of  their  triumph  ;  and  so  what  he  wills 


EVIL  CONSEQUENCES.  319 

they  are  naturally  predisposed  to  uphold— at  all 
events,  through  the  strictness  of  party  discipline 
that  has  come  to  prevail  and  the  interests  of  party 
managers  and  Government  officials  who  share  in 
the  spoils  of  victory,  the  great  hody  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  triumphant  party  may  he  generally 
led  to  approve  and  sustain  the  course  of  Executive 
wiU. 

Thus  supported  by  party  majorities,  with  tre- 
mendous powers  of  corruption  through  the  offices 
and  jobs  at  his  disposal,  and  thereby  able  to  wield 
an  immense  influence  in  retaining  and  acquiring 
the  support  he  may  in  any  emergency  need,  what 
is  to  prevent  his  initiating  and  controlling  the  leg- 
islative business  of  the  country,  and  so  subverting 
the  constitutional  balance  of  power  ?     Is  there  no 
room  to  fear  even  for  the  integrity  of  the  judicial 
■  functions  ?     And  what  have  we  then — ^with  all  the 
forms  of  the  Republic — what  have  we  in   effect 
but  an  Executive  despotism  ?     It  matters  not  in 
what  way,  however  indirect,   the  legislation  of  a 
country  comes  to  be  controlled  by  the  Executive 
power.     It  matters  not  in  what  way  the  Judiciary 
is  made  subservient.     After  the  Book  of  Judges 
comes  the  Book  of  Kings,  said  that  eccentric  man, 
but  sharp-sighted  political  seer,  John  Randolph  of 
Roanoke. 


320  PKESIDENT    MAKING. 

We  have  already  seen  significant  tokens  of  the 
tendency  in  this  direction.  "  I  am  the  State,"  said 
Louis  XIV.  "  I  am  the  People,"  said  in  efiect  an 
iron-willed  President  in  the  name  of  the  Democracy 
of  whose  will  he  proclaimed  himself  the  represent- 
ative and  embodied  reflection.  He  shrank  not 
from  threatening  the  existence  of  the  Senate  as  "  a 
concession  to  the  aristocratic  principle/'  and  an  ob- 
stacle to  the  free  course  of  the  popular  will  ;  and 
at  that  day  the  suggestion  was  even  made  to  sub- 
vert the  independence,  and  thereby  the  constitu- 
tional existence,  of  the  Federal  Judiciary,  by  ren- 
dering the  Judges  removable  at  Executive  pleas- 
ure. No  attempt  was  made,  that  I  am  aware  of, 
to  carry  these  suggestions  out.  Perhaps  they  were 
only  the  passionate  utterance  of  thwarted  self-will. 
Perhaps  it  was  concluded  that  the  means  already 
existing  might  be  made  sufficient  for  securing  the 
objects  of  predominant  parties.  I  mention  them 
only  as  significant  of  the  impulse  lying  in  the  na- 
ture of  victorious  party  spirit,  and  of  the  tendency 
to  the  absorption  of  the  powers  of  the  State  into 
the  Supreme  Executive. 

Since  that  time  twenty  years  have  passed  away, 
and  the  tendency  to  the  centralization  of  power 
has  not  diminished.     It  has  gone  on  increasing. 


EVIL    CONSEQUENCES.  321 

The  convenient  words  and  phrases  which  mark  the 
progress  of  things  in  this  direction  are  familiar  to 
all.  There  are  some  persons  who  profess  a  great 
contempt  for  words  :  they  go  for  things.  Eight, 
undouhtedly,  if  only  they  do  not  fall  into  the  mis- 
take of  converting  a  partial  and  conditional  truth 
into  a  universal  and  absolute  one.  For  words  are 
also  things — and  sometimes  tremendous  things. 
And  political  words  and  phrases  are  a  surer  index 
to  the  direction  in  which  a  nation's  destiny  is 
moving  than  unthinking  persons  dream.  When 
the  celebrated  phrase,  "  to  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils,"  was  first  announced  in  application  to  our 
politics,  it  was  thought  the  inauguration  of  a  mon- 
strous doctrine,  at  variance  with  all  constitutional 
principles  of  righteous  administration.  It  has  be- 
come now  the  settled  doctrine  and  practice  of  all 
parties  ;  and  thousands  who  shrank  from  defending 
it  then,  do  not  think  it  needs  defending  now. 

We  have  all  become  familiar  with  a  mode  of 
speaking  which  has  of  late  come  more  and  more  to 
prevail — by  which  the  Executive,  under  the  terms, 
the  Government,  the  Administration,  is  put  into 
prominence  and  distinction  above  the  co-ordinate 
powers  of  the  State.     The  policy,  the   plans,  and 

even  the  personal  wishes  of  the  President  in  regard 
14* 


322  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

to  legislative  measures^  are  spoken  of  as  something 
that  ought  to  have  a  prevailing  influence  upon  the 
legislation  of  the  country.     And  we  have  at  length 
come  to  see  the  Executive,  not  merely  submitting 
to  Congress  such  recommendations  as  the  Consti- 
tution makes   it  his  right  and   duty  to  offer,  not 
merely  asking  for  such  legislation  as  the  discharge 
of  his  proper  Executive  functions  may,  in  any  case, 
make  specially  needful,  but  virtually  initiating  and 
pressing  great  legislative  measures  which  are  prop- 
erl)^  and  exclusively  within  the  sphere  of  the  inde- 
pendent action  of  Congress,  and  with  which  he  has 
rightfully  nothing  to  do  except  in  the  sequel  of 
their  action.     And  we  hear  of  the  obligation  to 
sustain  the  President  in  such  cases  as  the  para- 
mount obligation  of  the    party  in  power.     It  is 
made  the  test  of  fealty  to  the  party  ;  and  fealty  to 
the  party  is  made  the  sole   obligation  of  legislators 
— not  fealty  to  the  great  political   principles  or 
measures  that  may  be  adopted  by  a  party,  and  to 
which  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  Congress  may  be 
honorably  called  on  to  avow  his  fealty  beforehand, 
and  to  make  good  his  profession  afterward  ;  but 
implicit,  unqualified  obedience  to  the  behests  of 
party  discipline  and  .to  the  mere  will  of  party  lead- 
ers and  their  chief  on  all  questions  and  under  all 
circumstances. 


EVIL   CONSEQUENCES.  323 

"  It  will  not  do/'  says  one  of  the  organs  of  the 
present  Administration  (I  do  not  say  an  authorized 
exponent  of  the  mind  of  the  Executive),  "  it  will 
not  do  for  a  man  to  say,  ^  I  differ  from  the  Presi- 
dent on  this  single  point/  It  will  not  do  to  differ 
on  that  single  point/'  A  hundred  similar  utter- 
ances of  the  press — pending  the  so-called  Lecomp- 
ton  struggle — might  be  adduced.  The  official  or- 
gan itself  (as  it  is  termed)  was  not  less  strong  to 
the  same  effect.  It  poured  out  reprobation  and 
threats  upon  all  recusants.  And  what  is  worst  of 
all,  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  from  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  speaking  in  their  places,  we 
have  heard  the  same  obligation  of  implicit  sub- 
mission to  the  President's  will  openly  proclaimed, 
and  the  presumption  of  legislators  in  claiming  the 
right  to  distinguish  between  the  President's  right 
to  recommend  and  his  right  to  command,  boldly  de- 
nounced as  "  the  language  of  rebellion  !  "*  Is  not 
this  atrocious  .?  Is  it  easy  to  imagine  a  greater 
outrage  on  the  independence  and  dignity  of  the  Na- 
tional Legislature,  or  a  more  destructive  blow  at 
the  integrity  of  the  Constitution  and  the  balance 
of  its  great  co-ordinate  powers,  than  is  contained 

*  See  report  of  debates  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Fri- 
day, March  25,  1858. 


324  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

in  sucli  an  utterance  ?  It  matters  not  to  say  it 
may  have  been  a  thoughtless  exaggeration  of 
phrase,  not  to  be  strictly  construed  as  a  deliberate 
assertion  of  the  doctrine  and  duty  of  implicit  sub- 
serviency to  Executive  dictation.  It  is  any  way  an 
unqualified  assertion  of  the  doctrine.  And  when 
such  a  doctrine  can  be  proclaimed  in  such  a  place, 
and  the  man  that  proclaims  it,  no  matter  how 
thoughtlessly,  is  not  put  down,  or  put  out,  by  one 
immediate,  spontaneous,  simultaneous  uprising  of 
righteous  displeasure — I  have  only  to  say  it  is  to 
me  a  significant  token  of  the  centralized  absolutism 
toward  which  we  are  tending.  It  marks  off  the 
measure  of  many  a  mile  of  national  descent  on  the 
road  downward  since  the  days  of  Washington. 

It  is  meantime  matter  of  universal  belief  that 
some  of  the  most  important  legislative  acts  that 
have  been  passed  within  the  last  few  years,  have 
been  passed  under  the  pressure  of  Executive  influ- 
ence. They  have  been  urged  as  Administration 
measures,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  common  assertion, 
and  of  universal  conviction,  that  the  whole  im- 
mense force  of  the  Executive  has  been  brought  to 
bear  upon  their  passage.  Whether  the  charge  of 
using  the  Executive  patronage  to  corrupt  the  legis- 
lation of  Congress  be  true  or  not ;  whether  it  can 


EVIL    CONSEQUENCES.  325 

be  established  by  legal  and  technical  proof  or  not, 
I  do  not  undertake  to  say.  It  is  asserted  on  all 
hands.  It  is  universally  believed  to  be  true.  I  do 
not  suppose  there  is  a  man  of  any  intelligence 
throughout  the  country  that  entertains  the  slight- 
est moral  doubt  on  the  matter.  Pending  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Kansas  into 
the  Union  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the 
corrupt  influence  of  the  Executive  was  everywhere 
talked  of — not  only  by  the  opponents  of  the  meas- 
ure, as  a  thing  to  be  feared,  but  by  those  who  fa- 
vored it  as  the  ground  of  their  hopes  ;  and  the 
fact  of  its  exertion  was  admitted  on  all  hands. 

And  worst  of  all  is  the  fact  that  so  many  seem 
to  think  this  all  a  matter  of  course — that  things, 
which  in  the  days  of  Washington  would  have  been 
looked  upon  with  horror,  are  now  regarded  with 
comparative  unconcern,  not  merely  by  the  great 
host  of  unprincipled  politicians,  for  they  do  not 
care  at  all,  but  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
throughout  the  country.  This  is  the  worst  feature 
of  the  case.  Nothing  so  decisively  and  shockingly 
marks  our  national  degeneracy,  and  the  depths  to 
which  we  have  sunk,  as  the  almost  universal  apa- 
thy with  which  things  that  nobody  seriously  de- 
fends, which  everybody  admits  to  be  corrupt,  fla- 


326  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

gitious,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  coun- 
try, are  acquiesced  in  as  things  of  course-— things 
which  may  be  lamented  but  cannot  be  prevented — 
things  that  must  be  let  go  on,  each  party  making 
the  most  it  can  for  itself  in  the  corrupt  scramble  ; 
and,  as  for  the  country,  why  the  country  must  not 
trouble  itself  too  much  about  what  cannot  be 
helped.  It  is  a  great  country.  It  will  take  a  great 
deal  of  bad  government  to  ruin  it  It  will  last 
some  time  yet.  Its  pockets  are  not  much  meddled 
with — certainly  not  in  a  direct  way — it  does  not 
feel  the  draft  made  upon  them.  And  meantime  it 
has  a  great  "  manifest  destiny  "  to  fulfil.  It  will 
not  do  to  be  too  scrupulous  and  squeamish.  All 
governments  are  corrupt,  especially  all  free  govern- 
ments. Human  nature  is  no  better  than  it  should 
be.  What  is  the  use  of  being  always  on  the  alarm  ? 
Laissez  aller  :  let  things  go,  and  keep  out  of  the 
way. 

Well,  if  nine-tenths  of  the  politicians,  and  of 
the  people  too,  talk  in  this  way,  I  do  not  know  that 
there  is  much  use  in  saying  any  thing  ;  only  he  who 
blows  the  warning  blast  has  case  of  conscience, 
whatever  betides. 

I  have  thus  sketched  what  seem  to  me  the  per- 


EVIL    CONSEQUENCES.  327 

nicious  influences  of  our  system  of  President 
making  upon  the  people,  and  upon  all  public  func- 
tionaries, and  its  tendency  to  overthrow  the  Consti- 
tutional balance  of  power,  and  to  consolidate  a 
central  absolutism  supported  by  party  majorities 
resting  on  a  demoralized  people — with  all  the  forms 
of  the  republic  serving  only  to  hold  the  nation 
more  inextricably  entangled  in  the  vast  net-work 
of  corrupt  olBficials  and  political  managers,  spread- 
ing its  infinite  inevitable  meshes  outward  from  the 
centre  all  over  the  land.  That  such  is  the  actual 
influence  of  our  system,  such  the  direction  in  which 
we  are  moving,  and  such  the  inevitable  result  of 
unchecked  progress  in  this  direction,  is  a  truth  to 
which,  in  my  opinion,  no  wise  statesman,  no  pro- 
found student  of  human  nature  and  human  history, 
can  shut  his  eyes.  And  judging  of  the  future  by 
the  past  (which,  though  not  an  absolute  canon  of 
political  prophecy,  is  yet,  to-  a  certain  extent,  a 
sound  one),  and  looking  to  the  growth  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  constantly  augmenting  patronage  of 
the  Executive,  what  else  can  be  expected  but  a 
constant  and  rapid  increase  of  these  evils  and  dan- 
gers ?  A  certain  stage  of  degeneracy  reached,  the 
road  downward  is  trodden  with  accelerated  speed. 
I  do  not  mean  to  maintain  that  our  system  of 


328  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

President  makiiig  has  been  the  sole  and  only  cause 
of  the  corruption  and  degeneracy  I  have  sketched. 
It  is  doubtless  effect  as  well  as  cause.  In  all  gov- 
ernments— and  in  free  governments  most  of  all — 
the  tendency  to  corruption  is  such  that  no  mode 
of  constituting  the  Federal  Executive  could  give 
us  absolute  exemption  from  such  or  similar  evils 
and  dangers.  But  our  actual  mode  of  doing  it  has 
furnished  a  special  basis,  supplied  peculiar  condi- 
tions, temptations,  means  and  facilities  for  the 
growth  and  action  of  corruption,  such  as  would  not 
have  existed  if  the  intention  of  the  Constitution 
in  this  matter  had  been  strictly  adhered  to. 

Special  causes  may  also  have  concurred  to  in- 
crease the  corrupt  working  of  our  actual  system. 

Chief  among  these  is  the  institution  of  slavery, 
and  the  invincible  determination  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  States  to  possess  and  control  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment for  the  defence  and  aggrandizement  of 
that  institution.  Subordinating  every  thing  else  to 
this,  and  holding  the  balance  between  the  great 
Northern  parties,  the  policy  of  the  Southern  States 
has  always  been  to  make  entire  subserviency  to  the 
interests  of  slavery  the  price  of  that  alliance,  with- 
out which  no  party  could  come  into  power,  to  secure 
a  President  bound  to  do  their  wiU  in  the  exercise 


EVIL   CONSEQUENCES.  329 

of  his  Executive  functions,  and  through  him  to 
control  also  the  action  of  Congress,  always  at  least 
negatively  through  the  veto  power,  by  preventing 
any  unsatisfactory  legislation,  and  positively,  also, 
so  far  as  Executive  influence  can  go  to  secure  posi- 
tive legislation  in  the  interests  of  slavery.  With 
such  a  policy,  it  is  not  wonderful  the  Southern 
States  have  had  the  sagacity  to  see  and  the  skill  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  peculiar  advantages  our  ac- 
tual system  of  President  making  affords  for  the  fur- 
therance of  their  paramount  object. 


PRESIDENT     MAKING. 

LETTER  III.— ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ? 


My  dear  Sir  :  We  have  looked  at  the  evils 
and  dangers  that  environ  us — ^where  shall  we  look 
for  remedies  ?  Upon  what  can  we  rely  to  check 
the  progress  of  corruption  and  the  downward  course 
of  national  degeneracy  ? 

Is  it  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  great 
honest  masses  which  make  up  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  the  country? 

There  is  enough  of  it,  no  doubt — particularly 
*^  off  the  pavements,"  as  an  eminent  statesman  is 
wont  to  say — there  is  enough  of  it,  if  only  it  could 
have  scope  and  sway.  But  how  to  get  it  to  have 
scope  and  sway  ?  It  is  unable  now  to  withstand 
the  bad  working  of  our  political  system.     It  is  not 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?        331 

strong  enough  now  to  stem  the  tide  of  political 
.corruption.  This  we  see.  And  how  to  make  it 
stronger  ?  It  is  now  the  dupe  of  party  managers 
— all  the  more  serviceable  because  it  serves  their 
ends  with  a  good  conscience.  This  is  a  point 
greatly  to  be  observed.  The  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  the  country — whatever  it  be — serves  the  ends  of 
party  managers  all  the  more  serviceably  in  propor- 
tion as  it  is  duped  into  thinking  them  all  right. 
Its  very  heart  and  conscience  thus  become  an  ele- 
ment of  strength  in  the  hands  of  party  leaders  ; 
and  so  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  great  hon- 
est masses — which  certainly  is  their  own  individual 
salvation — does  not  become  the  source  of  a  con- 
trolling public  virtue  for  the  political  salvation  of 
the  country.  Besides,  nothing  in  the  world  tends 
so  powerfully  to  a  constant  deterioration  of  the 
public  morals  of  a  nation  as  the  corrupt  working  of 
political  institutions.     How  to  turn  the  tide  ? 

The  Press,  is  it  said — the  Free  Press — the  great 
palladium  of  a  nation's  liberties  ?  That  is  a  fine 
formula.  It  has  a  grand  sound.  But  I  do  not  look 
for  political  regeneration  from  that  quarter.  The 
Press  !  Why,  how  much  of  wholesome  truth  and 
sound  doctrine  do  the  people  get  from  the  party 
press — which  is  pretty  nearly  all  the  press  there  is, 


332  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

SO  far  as  the  political  education  of  the  people  is 
due  to  the  press  ?  It  feeds  them  on  falsehoods  and 
fallacies,  morning,  noon,  and  night.  The  only  con- 
solation is  that  the  more  intelligent  of  the  people 
have  come  to  understand  this,  and  to  believe  little 
or  nothing  merely  because  it  is  said  by  the  party 
press.  But  these  persons  are  an  ineffectual  minor- 
ity. As  to  the  great  masses,  how  is  it  ?  One  half 
of  the  press  is  the  tool  of  one  party  ;  the  other  half, 
of  the  other  party.  The  great  mass  of  one  party 
scarcely  read  any  thing  said  by  the  press  of  the 
other  party,  and  believe  nothing  it  says.  They 
read  their  own  party  half  of  the  press,  and  believe 
all  it  says.  I  look  upon  the  political  party  press 
as  it  works  with  us,  in  spite  of  certain  good  uses  it 
serves,  as  on  the  whole  very  injurious  to  the  moral 
spirit  of  the  nation.  On  neither  hand  does  it,  as  a 
general  thing,  state  facts  truly,  or  favor  or  oppos^^ 
public  men  and  measures  fairly.  But  what  is  luorse 
still,  on  neither  hand  does  it  preach  those  great  les- 
sons of  political  truth  and  political  duty  which 
ought  to  he  preached  to  a  free  people,  and  which 
must  in  some  ivay  he  effectually  learned  in  order  to 
prevent  such  a  government  as  ours  from  hecoming 
the  worst  and  most  dangerous  of  all  forms  of  gov- 
ernment.    On  the  contrary,  both  sides  of  the  party 


ARE   THERE   ANY    REMEDIES  ?  333 

press  vie  with  each  other  in  flattering  and  cajoling 
the  people  with  watchwords  and  phrases  addressed 
to  their  passions  and  prejudices,  tending  to  beget 
in  them  an  exaggerated  sense  of  rights  and  a  feeble 
sense  of  duties — to  make  them  feel  that  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  people  is  rightfully  a  sovereignty  of 
mere  will,  that  the  right  of  the  majority  to  have 
its  own  will  and  way  at  all  events  and  in  any  way, 
is  a  sacred  inviolable  right  which  only  aristocrats 
and  tyrants  can  call  in  question,  and  to  question 
which  is  a  monstrous  outrage  on  the  principles  of 
eternal  justice. 

But  an  independent  Press — it  may  be  said — 
not  in  the  interest  of  parties,  a  press  that  shall 
boldly  and  ably  preach  the  principles  of  political 
truth  and  righteousness,  state  facts  truly,  canvass 
public  men  and  measures  fairly,  and  warn  the  peo- 
ple of  the  evils  and  dangers  that  surround  us,  and 
of  the  direction  in  which  the  nation  is  drifting  on- 
ward ? 

Well,  how  is  such  a  press  to  be  had  ?  Who  is 
to  establish  it  ?  Who  to  sustain  it  ?  And  what 
is  to  be  its  influence  ?  How  is  it  to  reach  and  dis- 
abuse the  great  masses  of  the  people  whose  minds 
are  abused  by  the  party  press  ?  It  would  have  so 
many  things  to  say  unpalatable  to  the   popular 


334  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

taste.  It  would  go  hard  for  it  to  get  the  popular 
ear.  It  would  have  both  sides  of  the  party  press 
against  it.  And  as  to  the  party  in  power,  what 
would  they  care  ?  They  would  laugh  at  its  preach- 
ings and  denunciations  of  political  corruption  ;  they 
would  even  hke  them.  It  is  a  safety-valve  in  the 
State  machinery  under  their  control.  Edmund 
Burke  tells  us  that  when  Rome  was  in  its  most 
servile  state,  the  destruction  of  tyrants  was  the 
common  theme  of  boys  in  the  schools.  The  ty- 
rants felt  strong  enough  to  let  it  go  so. 

But  Christianity — the  influence  of  its  spirit  and 
principles  ? 

Undoubtedly,  if  only  they  could  permeate  and 
actuate  the  political  life  of  the  country.  But  the 
Christianity  of  our  country — that  body  of  convic- 
tions and  sentiments,  observances  and  practices, 
which  passes  for  Christianity  among  us — is  for  the 
most  part  made  to  run  on  at  a  safe  distance  from 
the  political  course  of  things,  rarely  coming  into 
contact  with  it.  It  is  graciously  permitted,  indeed, 
to  subserve  the  ends  of  politicians  by  proclaiming 
the  great  doctrine  and  duty  of  "  rendering  to  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's."  But  if  in  any  unlucky 
moment  it  is  moved  to  condemn  and  denounce  the 
conduct  of  parties  and  the  action  of  Government, 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       335 

it  gets  well  snubbed  for  its  pains,  and  is  bidden  to 
mind  its  own  business  and  not  to  "  meddle  with 
politics  " — above  all,  not  to  preach  "  sedition  and 
rebellion  ; "  for  law  is  law,  and  a  very  sacred  thing 
it  is  ;  and  "  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God,"  and  Christianity  must  be  careful  not  to  talk 
about  any  Higher  Law  than  human  law,  and  not  to 
tell  the  people  that  there  can  be  such  a  thing  as  an 
unjust  law,  or  a  corrupt  judge,  or  an  atrocious  act 
of  Government — at  all  events,  it  must  be  careful 
to  say  nothing  of  this  sort  in  any  case  where  the 
interests  of  slaveholding  are  in  any  way  concerned. 

I  for  one  do  not  expect  political  salvation  from 
any  such  Christianity  as  we  have  now,  or,  for  aught 
I  see,  are  likely  to  have  for  some  time  to  come. 
Indeed,  were  it  ten  times  more  disposed  than  it  is 
to  grapple  with  the  political  corruption  of  the  na- 
tion, I  should  have  little  hope  of  its  effecting  much. 
He  who  runs  a  race  with  the  Evil  One,  we  are  told, 
must  needs  have  long  legs.  We  have  no  reason  to 
expect  any  miraculous  lengthening  of  our  Chris- 
tianity for  such  a  race  ;  and  its  ordinary  powers — 
what  guaranty  for  their  effectual  competition  in  the 
future  do  we  find  in  the  past  ? 

Besides,  the  Christianity  of  every  country  is 
practically  what  it  is  taken  to  be  ;  and  the  Chris- 


336  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

tianity  of  our  country  is  singularly  unfitted  for  tlie 
race  in  question,  from  the  fact  that  in  its  relations 
to  public  evils  it  has  two  faces,  two  voices,  looks 
two  ways,  has  two  sets  of  legs,  which  run,  or  strive  to 
run,  in  contrary  directions,  producing  a  dead  lock, 
which  gives  the  Evil  One  a  clear  field  and  an  Basy 
triumph.  A  great  "  Revival  of  Religion,''  is  said  to 
have  spread  throughout  the  land.  But,  without 
intending  any  disrespect  to  it,  I  must  say  that  I  do 
not  much  expect  it  will  make  the  religion  of  the 
country  any  more  a  Christianity  with  one  face,  and 
one  voice,  looking  and  running  in  one  direction,  or 
with  any  more  powerful  influence  in  arresting  the 
progress  of  political  corruption  than  heretofore. 

To  what,  then,  are  we  to  look  ?  If  anywhere, 
we  must,  it  seems  to  me,  look  mainly  to  political 
influences,  to  changes  in  the  working  of  our  politi- 
cal system — partly  as  they  may  be  forced  upon  us 
by  future  exigencies  in  public  affairs,  and  partly  as 
they  may  result  from  social  changes  under  the 
gradual  operation  of  economical  and  other  histori- 
cal causes. 

I  say  political  influences,  political  changes — for 
no  causes  act  more  powerfully  upon  the  political 
character  of  a  nation  than  the  working  of  its  polit- 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       337 

ical  institutions.  A  practical  departure  from  the 
intention  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  way  we  have 
seen,  has  been  the  great  cause  of  the  evils  and 
dangers  I  have  sketched  ;  and  these  evils  and  dan- 
gers, in  their  most  peculiar  and  worst  aspects, 
would  in  a  great  measure  disappear,  could  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution  be  truly  and  thor- 
oughly established  in  practical  operation  through- 
out the  country.  But  it  is  idle  to  expect  the  choice 
of  President  will  now  ever  come  to  be  made  in 
strict  conformity  with  the  original  intention  of  the 
Constitution.  It  may  be  thought  equally  idle  to 
expect  any  determinate  and  very  beneficial  altera- 
tions in  our  system.  Still,  it  is  possible  to  suggest 
changes  which  it  would  be  wise  and  salutary  to 
adopt. 

Various  suggestions  have  been  made  with  a  view 
to  reduce  the  patronage  of  the  President,  and  so, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  diminish  the  means  and  temp- 
tations to  a  corrupt  and  dangerous  use  of  official 
power,  yet  without  taking  from  him  those  powers 
which  must  on  all  sound  principles  be  vested  in  the 
Executive  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  proportionably 
to  diminish  the  demoralizing  infl.uences  of  the  Pres- 
idential elections. 

Of  this  sort  is  the  election  of  Postmasters  by 
15 


338  PRESIDENT   MAKING. 

the  people  of  the  towns  and  districts  where  post- 
offices  are  established — the  persons  thus  elected 
giving  proper  securities  to  the  General  Government, 
and  held  to  proper  responsibilities  to  it. 

Even  the  abolition  of  the  Post  Office  system, 
as  a  department  of  the  General  Government,  has 
been  proposed — thus  leaving  the  transmission  of 
letters  and  other  mail  matter  to  the  general  laws 
of  business. 

Either  of  these  schemes  is  practicable  ;  the  lat- 
ter is  the  preferable  one.  There  is  little  room  to 
doubt  that  private  enterprise  could  accomplish  as 
well  and  more  cheaply  what  the  General  Govern- 
ment accomplishes  through  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment. This  Department  is  not  now  a  necessity 
either  for  the  Government  or  for  the  country,  as  it 
was  once.  The  electric  telegraph  has  already  su- 
perseded its  functions  to  an  immense  extent.  A 
vast  proportion  of  the  commercial  and  other  inter- 
course of  the  country  is  carried  on  by  this  means. 
This  will  be  more  and  more  the  case.  And  what 
the  telegraph  cannot  convey,  the  express  companies 
can  carry  as  well  and  as  cheaply  as  the  General 
Government — more  so,  in  the  opinion  of  the  best 
judges.  I  have  the  authority  of  a  late  high  public 
functionary  (one  of  the  best  authorities  in  the  coun- 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       339 

try  on  such  matters)  for  saying  that  the  material 
interests  of  the  country  would  not  suffer  but  he 
benefited  by  the  abolition  of  the  Post  Office  De- 
partment. 

Soj  too,  the  suggestion  has  been  made  to  do 
away  with  our  whole  revenue  system — leaving  for- 
eign commerce  free  from  all  customs  duties  and 
imposts,  and  providing  for  the  expenses  of  the  Gov- 
ernment by  direct  taxation.  This  also  is  a  practi- 
cable scheme.  The  collection  of  the  taxes  might 
be  committed  to  the  United  States  Marshals,  who 
might  employ  the  agency  of  the  collectors  of  State 
taxes  in  their  several  districts,  both  taxes  being 
collected  at  the  same  time.  In  this  way,  the  ex- 
pense of  collecting  the  revenue  of  the  United 
States,  which  now  amounts  to  seven  per  cent., 
would,  in  the  opinion  of  the  same  eminent  authori- 
ty before  referred  to,  be  reduced  to  one  per  cent.  ; 
this,  whether  so  or  not,  is,  however,  a  point  of  com- 
paratively trifling  importance. 

Whether  these  changes  are  likely  to  be  adopted 
is  not  the  question  now.  One  thing  is  certain,  that 
if  adopted  they  would  greatly  diminish  the  means 
of  corruption  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive.  It 
ought  to  be  expected,  too,  that  the  people  would 
look  more  closely  after  the  expenditure  of  the  pub- 


340  PRESIDENT   MAKING. 

lie  money — ^feeling  it  drawn  directly  from  their 
pockets  ;  and  that  the  appropriation  of  immense 
sums  to  be  profligately  wasted  in  extravagant  pay- 
ment for  jobs  and  contracts  given  in  reward  of  the 
services  of  political  managers,  would  not  be  tole- 
rated. This  ought  to  be  expected ;  and  would  to  a 
certain  extent  be  the  case,  although  the  working  of 
imiversal  suffrage  among  the  great  masses  who  pay 
no  taxes,  suggests  a  doubt  whether  it  would  be  so 
to  the  extent  it  ought  to  be.  But  at  all  events,  a 
very  large  number  of  offices  now  in  the  President's 
gift — objects  of  greedy  desire  and  strenuous  scram- 
ble among  the  hordes  of  office-seekers — would  cease 
to  exist ;  and  the  corrupting  excitements  of  the 
Presidential  elections  would  be  correspondingly  les- 
sened. 

Modifications  of  our  political  system,  such  as  I 
have  mentioned,  may  possibly  be  accomplished  in 
the  course  of  time,  through  the  pressure  of  public 
exigencies  in  peculiar  (perhaps  disastrous)  emer- 
gencies, or  through  the  influence  of  economical  and 
social  changes,  wrought  out  by  the  progress  of  sci- 
ence and  the  arts  of  life,  and  in  their  turn  acting 
necessarily  upon  the  administration  of  political  af- 
fairs. 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       341 

But  there  is  one  other  suggestion  still.  Since 
it  is  precisely  the  popular  election  of  the  President 
which  the  Constitution  was  framed  to  prevent ; 
since  the  subversion  of  this  intention  is  precisely 
the  great  and  special  source  of  national  demorali- 
zation and  danger — would  it  not  be  wise  to  adopt 
some  method  of  filling  the  Executive  office  by  which 
the  intention  of  the  Constitution  in  this  respect 
shall  be  effectually  accomplished  ?  I  think  so.  I 
think  a  method  may  be  devised  perfectly  practica- 
ble in  itself,  and  wanting  nothing  but  the  will  of 
the  people  to  effect  its  accomplishment.  This 
method  may  seem  to  run  very  little  chance  of  ever 
getting  practically  accomplished  through  the  will 
of  the  people  :  that  may  be  a  sufficient  reason,  as 
I  have  said,  for  a  politic  statesman  not  undertaking 
to  accomplish  it,  but  it  is  no  reason  whatever  for 
sensible  persons  not  entertaining  the  question 
whether  it  ought  not  to  be  accomplished,  whether 
the  people  of  the  United  States  would  not  do  well 
and  wisely  to  adopt  it. 

In  case  of  vacancy  in  the  Executive,  suppose, 
then,  that  from  the  list  of  Senators  of  the  United 
States,  who  have  served  one  or  two  terms  of  office, 
one  be  taken  by  lot,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  his  Asso- 


342  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

ciates,  in  such  public  manner  and  with  such  forms 
and  modes  of  proceeding  as  may  he  fitly  prescribed 
to  give  proper  guaranty  and  authentication  to  the 
procedure.  Let  the  person  thus  designated  become 
President  for  four  or  for  six  years,  upon  taking  the 
prescribed  oath  in  the  usual  way. 

This  mode  of  filling  the  office  is  simple,  practi- 
cable and  safe,  and  would,  I  am  sure,  work  far  bet- 
ter than  our  present  mode.  Objections  to  it  may 
possibly  be  conceived  :  no  human  contrivance  in  the 
matter  of  government  but  is  liable  to  them  ;  al- 
though for  myself  I  am  free  to  avow  my  inabihty 
to  see  any  valid  and  sufficient  objection,  or  indeed 
any  objection  at  all,  except  the  single  suggestion 
that  the  person  thus  designated  may  possibly  not 
be  the  best  man  on  the  list  for  President.  But  this 
is  an  objection  which,  in  substance,  holds  against 
any  possible  or  conceivable  mode  of  filling  the  of- 
fice ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  mode  I  have 
suggested  has  many  obvious  and  undeniable  advan- 
tages above  any  other  scheme. 

In  the  fiirst  place,  it  would  effectually  accom- 
plish the  intention  of  the  Constitution  in  the  par- 
ticular its  framers  had  most  at  heart.  It  would 
prevent  altogether  what  they  especially  designed  to 
prevent — the   evils  and  dangers,  the  turmoil  and 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       343 

demoralizing  influences  of  a  popular  election,  the 
corrupt  intrigues  of  ambitious  aspirants  and  party 
managers.  Whatever  of  excitement  would  remain 
possible  would  be  divided  and  locaKzed  in  the  sev- 
eral States  in  the  choice  of  Senators.  The  possi- 
bility that  a  man  elected  to  the  Senate  might  be- 
come President  of  the  United  States  should,  and 
doubtless  would,  be  a  reason,  additional  to  those 
now  operating,  for  choosing  for  Senators  men  of 
high  character  and  eminent  abilities  for  the  public 
service  ;  while  the  chances  of  a  Senator  actually 
coming  into  the  office  of  President — less  than  one 
in  a  hundred  now,  and  diminished  by  every  new 
admission  of  a  State  into  the  Union — would  not  be 
great  enough,  nor  near  enough,  to  supply  much  mo- 
tive for  corrupt  practices  and  a  dangerous  excite- 
ment. The  mischievous  business  of  President-mak- 
ing, as  it  is  now  carried  on,  would  be  destroyed. 
The  occupation  of  the  President -making  politicians 
would  be  gone.  The  whole  pernicious  race  would 
become  extinct — to  the  great  comfort  of  honest 
men,  and  the  great  welfare  of  the  country. 

Then  again  :  who  can  doubt  we  should  be  full 
as  likely  to  get  in  general  as  good  a  man  for  Presi- 
dent as  we  get  now.  I  am  quite  clear  the  odds 
are  in  favor  of  getting  a  better  man.     The  time  for 


344  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

making  our  great  men  Presidents,  under  our  pres- 
ent system/ is  gone  by.  No  truly  great  and  emi- 
nent public  man,  as  things  now  are,  runs  much 
chance.  There  is  almost  always  something  in  their 
position  and  past  career  to  make  them  "  unavaila- 
ble " — that  is  the  word — ^in  the  judgment  of  party 
managers.  An  available  candidate  is  the  one  thing 
needful.  And  so  it  is  found  a  necessary  policy  to 
nominate  military  heroes,  successful  generals,  or 
even  persons  of  small  public  mark  and  without 
positive  quaUties,  rather  than  great  statesmen.  A 
more  biting  piece  of  ironical  sarcasm  on  the  actual 
working  of  our  system  can  scarcely  be  conceived 
than  is  contained  in  the  language  in  which  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  gave  expression  to 
their  elevated  hopes  on  this  point.  "This  process 
of  election,"  says  the  Federalist,  "  affords  a  moral 
certainty  that  the  ofiice  of  President  will  seldom 
fall  to  the  lot  of  a  man  who  is  not  in  an  eminent 
degree  endowed  with  the  requisite  qualifications. 
Talents  for  low  intrigue,  and  the  little  arts  of  pop- 
ularity, may  alone  suffice  to  elevate  a  man  to  the 
first  honors  of  a  single  State.  But  it  will  require 
other  talents  and  a  different  kind  of  merit  to  estab- 
lish him  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  whole 
Union,  or  of  so  considerable  a  portion  of  it  as  will 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       345 

be  necessary  to  make  him  a  successful  candidate 
for  the  distinguished  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States."*  Shades  of  departed  heroes,  pa- 
triots and  statesmen  !  What  a  prophecy  is  this  ! 
But  then  it  is  to  be  considered  that  Madison,  and 
Hamilton,  and  Jay,  when  they  indulged  in  this 
prophetic  satisfaction,  wrote  under  the  delusive 
belief  that  the  intention  of  the  Constitution  would 
be  carried  out,  not  frustrated  ;  that  the  President 
would  be  chosen  by  the  concurrent  votes  of  inde- 
pendent electors,  casting  their  ballots  under  the 
sole  responsibility  of  voting  for  the  man  they  should 
find  best  fitted  for  the  office,  and  that  he  would  be 
a  man  commended  to  their  choice  by  the  sole  fact 
of  standing  before  the  nation  by  general  consent  in 
the  position  of  '^  pre-eminent  ability  and  virtue/' 

I  do  not  hesitate  then  to  say  that  by  the  mode  I 
have  suggested,  we  should  be  likely  to  get  at  least 
as  fit  a  man  for  President  as  we  get  now.  He 
would  be  a  man  who  had  had  experience  of  public 
affairs,  had  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  a  sovereign 
State,  and  filled  a  position  of  the  highest  pubhc 
dignity  and  trust ;  and  he  would  be  quite  as  likely 
to  be  a  man  of  "  pre-eminent  abiUty  and  virtue,"  as 

*  Federalist,  No.  68. 


346  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

any  one  we  can  ordinarily  expect  to  have  under  our 
present  system. 

Then^  too,  he  would  have  the  advantage  of  com- 
ing into  office  unsullied  by  any  complication  with 
the  corrupting  processes  of  a  popular  election,  ex- 
empt from  all  pledges  or  obligations  to  parties  or 
persons,  and  from  all  such  temptations  to  abuse  his 
patronage,  and  free  to  administer  the  Government 
as  President  of  the  nation  and  not  of  a  party. 
Abuse  of  power  is  still  possible — power  is  never 
without  temptations,  and  no  man  can  be  found  not 
liable  to  falL  But  it  is  certain  he  would  be  com- 
pletely exempted  from  an  immense  amount  of  temp- 
tations to  which  the  Executive  is  now  subjected. 
And  as  to  the  still  remaining  possibilities  of  a  cor- 
rupt use  of  his  official  powers  during  the  term  of 
his  office  for  ends  of  personal  ambition — if  the  sug- 
gestions already  made  in  regard  to  diminishing  the 
patronage  of  the  office  should  be  carried  into  effect, 
the  means  of  corruption  and  the  dangers  of  Execu- 
tive interference  with  the  constitutional  balance  of 
the  powers  of  the  State,  would  be  still  further  re- 
duced. But  whether  those  suggestions,  or  either 
of  them,  were  adopted,  it  would  still  be  true  to  say 
— and  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  say  with  truth — 
that  he  would  be  comparatively  shielded  from  the 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       347 

baser  sort  of  motives,  and  environed  by  all  the  bet- 
ter and  nobler  motives  of  his  position — the  high  be- 
hests of  public  duty,  and  the  honorable  ambition  to 
deserve  the  approbation  of  his  country  and  the  ap- 
plauding verdict  of  impartial  history. 

Then,  again,  it  is  not  a  small  advantage  that 
the  legislative  bodies  of  the  nation  would  be  pro- 
tected from  many  of  the  evil  influences  of  our  pres- 
ent system.  They  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  business  of  President  making.  Its  intense  and 
corrupting  excitements  could  find  no  entrance  to 
warp  the  integrity,  impair  the  dignity,  and  inter- 
fere with  the  proper  functions  of  legislative  assem- 
blies. 

And,  finally,  it  seems  to  me  an  improvement 
would  be  wrought  in  the  character  and  working  of 
the  great  political  parties.  Their  differences  and 
conflicts  would  not  be  about  President  making — 
they  would  be  less  about  persons  and  more  about 
great  public  principles  and  measures.  Party  spirit, 
we  might  reasonably  hope,  would  become  less  bit- 
ter, passionate  and  unscrupulous ;  and  the  party 
press  would  reflect  this  improved  tone — ^would  be- 
come less  pernicious  and  more  salutary  in  its  influ- 
ence on  the  public  and  private  morals  of  the  nation. 
The  action  of  parties,  in  their  relations  to  the  Gen- 


348  PKESIDENT    MAKING. 

eral  Grovernment  and  its  administration,  would  be 
brought  within  its  legitimate  sphere,  and  would  be 
more  rational,  conservative  and  beneficent  upon  the 
legislation  of  the  country  and  upon  the  whole  con- 
duct of  public  affairs. 

Such,  it  seems  to  me,  would  be  the  working  of 
the  plan  suggested.  It  would  be  likely  to  give  us 
a  better  government,  a  better  administration  of 
public  affairs  ;  it  would  certainly  prevent  many  of 
the  worst  evils  and  greatest  dangers  of  our  present 
system.  "  The  mode  of  appointing  the  President," 
says  Chancellor  Kent,  "  presented  one  of  the  most 
difficult  and  momentous  questions  that  could  have 
occupied  the  deliberations  of  the  assembly  that 
framed  the  Constitution  ;  and  if  ever  the  tranquil- 
lity of  this  nation  is  to  be  disturbed,  and  its  peace 
jeoparded  by  a  struggle  for  power,  it  will  be  upon 
this  very  subject  of  the  choice  of  President.  This 
is  the  question  that  is  to  test  the  goodness  and  try 
the  strength  of  the  Constitution.'^* 

So  said  this  wise  man  many  years  ago.  It  is  a 
warning  of  prophetic  apprehension  which  every 
year's  experience  of  the  effects  of  subverting  the 
Constitution  in  this  matter,  and  of  inaugurating,  in 

*  Kent  Comment.  III.,  263. 


ARE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       349 

the  worst  form,  tlie  very  system  it  was  designed  to 
prevent,  serves  only  to  enforce.  And  nothing  ap- 
pears so  necessary  as  the  adoption  of  some  mode  of 
effectually  accomplishing  the  intention  of  the  Con- 
stitution by  putting  an  end  to  the  constantly  recur- 
ring party  struggles  for  the  election  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

If  this  could  be  done,  what  limits  can  be  as- 
signed to  the  safe  and  beneficent  extension  of  the 
Union  ?  With  a  General  Government  truly  Fed- 
eral, and  not  consolidated — leaving  to  the  States 
all  State  sovereignties  and  State  rights,  and  the 
control  of  all  State  interests,  and  acting  only  as  the 
agent  of  each  and  all  in  all  matters  of  common  con- 
cern ;  thus  giving  to  each  member  of  the  Union 
the  strength  of  the  whole  at  home,  and  the  power, 
dignity  and  importance  of  the  whole,  as  toward  all 
the  rest  of  the  world — ^what  is  there  to  render  un- 
safe the  widest  possible  expansion  of  the  Union  ? 
With  such  means  of  intercommunication  and  liv- 
ing connection  as  steam  and  electricity  now  supply, 
what  is  there  to  prevent  a  Federal  Union  of  sover- 
eign States  throughout  this  whole  Western  hemi- 
sphere ?  If  ever,  indeed,  the  vision  of  a  politi- 
cal millennium  shall  be  realized,  it  seems  to  me 
the  problem  will  be  solved  by  three  words  :  Free 


350  PRESIDENT    MAKING. 

Trade,  State  Eights,  and  a  Federal  Union  of  the 
World ! 

I  conclude  by  again  desiring  it  to  be  considered 
that  the  question  is  not  whether  the  scheme  sug- 
gested has  any  chance  of  getting  practically  real- 
ized, but  whether  it  is  not  one  that  ought  to  be 
adopted ;  one  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  would  do  well  and  wisely  to  adopt. 

Under  the  operation  of  the  causes  that  are  now 
at  work,  we  cannot  stand  where  we  are.  The  act- 
ual working  of  our  political  system  is  more  demor- 
alizing than  that  of  any  other  government  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth.  I  believe  so,  and  therefore  I 
say  so.  I  think  we  have  seen  that  it  is  so  ;  and 
there  is  reason  why  it  should  be  so.  It  acts  directly 
upon  the  great  masses  more  than  that  of  any  other 
government.  The  imperial  despotism  of  France, 
or  of  Russia,  for  instance,  does  not  tend  to  corrupt 
the  people  like  our  system — for  the  reason  that 
there  are  properly  no  politics  there  as  with  us  ;  the 
great  officers  of  state  may  be  corrupt  and  practice 
stupendous  corruptions,  but  the  great  masses  of  the 
people  have  very  little  to  do  with  the  government, 
except  to  be  governed  by  it.  They  are  deprived  of 
political  rights  ;  they  pay  taxes  which  they  have  no 


AKE  THERE  ANY  REMEDIES  ?       351 

voice  in  imposing.  This  is  bad,  no  doubt.  I  do 
not  advocate  such  a  system  ;  but  then  it  is  unde- 
niably clear  that  they  are  not  exposed  to  the  temp- 
tations to  political  corruption,  not  subjected  to  the 
demoralizing  influences  which  the  possession  of  such 
rights  would  subject  them  to.  But  our  Govern- 
ment comes  into  perpetual  contact  with  the  masses, 
touches  them  at  all  points,  and  reaches  every  indi- 
vidual. The  people  act  upon  the  Government  and 
are  acted  upon  by  it ;  and  the  mutual  action,  we 
have  seen,  is  corrupting — precisely  through  the 
immense  scope  and  the  immense  temptations  to 
corruption  inevitably  connected  with  the  actual 
working  of  our  political  system.  And  things  are 
going  on  from  bad  to  worse  ;  and  so  I  say  we  can- 
not stand  where  we  are.  Historical  causes  work 
slowly,  but  they  work  inevitably.  If  we  do  not  get 
on  better,  we  shall  get  on  worse.  Under  the  influ- 
ences that  are  now  shaping  our  destiny,  we  may  get 
on  after  a  tolerable  fashion  for  some  time  to  come, 
but  we  shall  not  get  on  well.  We  are  drifting 
toward  the  inevitable  day  of  disaster  upon  the  rocks 
of  a  lee  shore.  What  will  then  be  our  fate  ? 
Shall  we  then  be  able  to  wear  off  upon  a  safer  tack, 
or  shall  the  fragments  of  a  shattered  Union  strew 
the  shores  of  two  oceans,  a  warning  to  the  world 


352  PRESIDENT  MAKING. 

never  again  to  dream  the  fond  dream  of  a  great 
and  permanent  Eepnblic,  based  upon  democratic 
institutions  and  universal  suffrage  ?  Who  can  un- 
roll the  Book  of  Destiny,  and  tell  us  what  is  writ- 
ten there  ? 


POLITICS  AND  THE  PULPIT. 


POLITICS  AND  THE  PULPIT. 


An  immense  outcry  has  of  late  been  raised 
against  what  is  called  "  clerical  meddling  with  pol- 
itics ; "  and  no  end  of  exhortations  addressed  to  the 
clergy  about  the  duty  of  confining  themselves  to 
their  proper  work  of  "  preaching  Christ  Crucified," 
"  saving  souls,"  and  the  like. 

Much  that  is  said  on  this  matter  is  in  itself  un- 
worthy of  serious  notice,  and  might  be  safely  enough 
left  to  find  its  sufficient  refutation  in  the  good 
sense  of  the  intelligent  portion  of  the  public.  But 
experience  proves  what  a  power  of  pernicious  influ- 
ence lies  in  pious  phrases  constantly  addressed  to 
the  religious  feelings  and  prejudices  of  the  less  cul- 
tivated classes — especially  when  these  phrases  are 
adroitly  framed  to  combine  the  twofold  fallacy  of 


,356  POLITICS   AND    THE    PULPIT. 

begging  the  very  question  in  issue,  and  of  throwing 
odium  upon  all  who  do  not  immediately  succumb 
to  their  fallacious  application. 

Besides,  in  these  much-abused  commonplaces, 
there  is  always  a  part  of  truth,  to  which  the  fallacy 
owes  its  delusive  force,  and  which  needs  to  be  dis- 
tinguished and  accepted,  in  order  to  destroy  the 
mischievous  effect  of  their  fallacious  application. 
There  is  a  right,  and  there  is  a  wrong,  in  the  mat- 
ter, which  are  commonly  confounded.  Let  us  try 
to  make  the  proper  distinctions,  and  to  get  at  the 
truth  on  this  subject. 

It  will  probably  be  conceded  that  clergymen, 
being  men  and  citizens,  as  well  as  clergymen,  have 
a  right  to  feel  an  interest  in  all  measures  involving 
the  welfare  and  right  government  of  their  country, 
and  to  give  private  expression  to  their  views  on  all 
proper  occasions  and  in  all  proper  ways.  The  only 
question  is  as  to  their  public  conduct,  whether  per- 
sonal or  official. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  must  be  admitted,  that  by 
becoming  a  clergyman,  a  person  is  not  divested  of 
his  rights,  nor  absolved  from  his  duties  as  a  citizen, 
any  more  than  from  those  of  his  social  and  domes- 
tic relations. — On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
clear,  that  the  special  obligations  of  his  profession 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  357 

— the  proprieties  of  his  calling,  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  peculiar  influence  of  his  office — impose 
limitations   upon   his   public   activity  in  political 
matters.     Whatever  personal  part  he  may  take  in 
such  matters,  he  must  not  forget  his  official  charac- 
ter, and  the  duties  it  imposes.     There  are  a  great 
many  things  not  improper  in  a  layman  which  would 
be  unbecoming  in  a  clergyman.     So  every  one  feels. 
And  it  is  for  every  clergyman  a  question  of  charity 
— and  so  of  duty — as  well  as  of  prudence,  in  what 
way  and  to  what  extent  he  may  allow  himself  to 
take  part  in  political  affairs,  without  violating  the 
obligations   or  impairing  the  just  influence  of  his 
office.     To  hold  political  office,  or  to  put  himself 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  it,  to  take  an  active 
share  in  the  business  of  organizing  and  managing 
parties,  in  the  tactics  by  which  the  objects  of  indi- 
vidual ambition  or  the  triumph  of  a  party  may  be 
secured — in  short,  to  "  turn  politician,"  in  the  just 
and  ordinary  meaning  of  the  phrase,  is  as  much  at 
variance  with  the  proper  functions  of  the  clerical 
office,  as  to  turn  stockjobber  or  innkeeper.     If  a 
clergyman's  taste  inclines  this  way,  he  must  re- 
nounce his  sacred  calling,  before  engaging  in  these 
purely  secular  activities. 

But  the  important  question  is  not  so  much 


358  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

about  the  personal  as  about  the  official  conduct  of 
the  clergy  in  regard  to  public  affairs.  It  is  on  the 
relation  of  Politics  and  the  Pulpit.  It  is  what  is 
called  "  Political  Preaching,"  that  is  most  com- 
monly and  vehemently  denounced  as  an  unseemly 
"  clerical  meddling  with  politics." 

On  this  matter  there  is  likewise  a  very  preva- 
lent confusion  of  right  and  wrong.  No  universal 
proposition  on  the  subject  holds  good.  Not  every 
thing  which  may  be  denounced  as  political  preach- 
ing is  to  be  justified,  and  not  every  thing  so  de- 
nounced is  to  be  surrendered  to  condemnation. 

There  may,  undoubtedly,  be  a  wrong  sort  of  po- 
litical preaching,  at  variance  with  the  proper  func- 
tions of  the  pulpit.  Matters  simply  and  purely 
political  or  economical — questions  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  public  powers  ;  on  points  of  constitu- 
tional law  ;  on  trade,  finance  and  revenue  ;  on  the 
policy  of  protective  duties  or  internal  improve- 
ments, and  the  parties  and  party  conflicts  that  may 
grow  out  of  them — these,  and  such  like  matters, 
lying  wholly  within  the  domain  of  political  expe- 
diency, have  no  proper  place  in  the  sacred  desk. 
Preaching  about  such  matters  is  political  preach- 
ing in  a  justly  reprehensible  sense.  We  feel  no 
call  to  defend  it,  or  to  apologize  for  it.    We  sur- 


POLITICS  AND  THE   PULPIT.  359 

render  it  to  all  the  odium  any  one  may  choose  to 
heap  upon  it. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
political  preaching — what  is  often  so  called — that 
ought  not  to  be  abandoned  to  the  invidious  appli- 
cation of  the  phrase.  It  is  not  political  preaching 
in  any  justly  odious  sense.  It  is  preaching  Chris- 
tianity in  its  relations  to  the  political  life  of  the 
nation.  It  is  enforcing  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  Christian  religion  in  their  necessary  application 
to  the  duties  of  citizens  and  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs.  It  does  not  meddle  with  political  ques- 
tions which  are  purely  and  wholly  such,  and  to 
which  the  principles  and  precepts  of  Christianity 
stand  in  no  relation  and  have  no  application.  It 
deals  only  with  political  questions  which  are  at 
the  same  time  religious  and  moral  in  themselves, 
or  in  their  consequences,  or  to  which,  in  themselves, 
or  in  the  manner  of  their  practical  determination, 
the  principles  of  religion  and  morals  have  a  neces- 
sary application,  and  it  treats  all  such  questions 
only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. 

This  sort  of  "  political  preaching" — ^if  men  will 
so  call  it — is  not  to  be  surrendered  to  condemna- 
tion.    It  is  not  at  variance  with  the  proper  func- 


360  POLITICS    AND   THE   PULPIT. 

tions  of  the  pulpit.  It  belongs  to  them.  We  justify 
it.     We  vindicate  its  legitimate  rights. 

Yet  this  is  precisely  the  sort  of  preaching  poli- 
ticians have  raised  the  outcry  against.  The  other 
and  really  indefensible  sort — the  discussion  of  purely 
secular  topics  in  a  purely  secular  spirit — is,  in  point 
of  fact,  a  merely  imaginary  thing ;  at  least,  we 
never  heard  of  it  as  actually  preached  in  any  pul- 
pit. Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  not  this  that  corrupt 
politicians  stigmatize.  It  is  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  Christianity  to  the  criticism  of  public 
affairs,  it  is  the  enforcement  of  men's  Christian  du- 
ties as  citizens,  that  they  wish  to  repress.  They 
have  spared  no  pains  therefore  to  render  it  odious — 
by  raising  a  hue  and  cry  against  it — a  clamor  of 
watchwords,  some  addressed  to  the  pious  sentiments 
of  the  religious,  and  some  to  the  prejudices  and 
passions  of  the  profane. 

In  this  way  a  false  and  pernicious  opinion  has 
come  quite  widely  to  prevail,  which  the  clergy 
themselves  too  generally  give  in  to — some,  because 
they  are  imposed  upon  by  the  fallacies  it  rests  on  ; 
some,  from  scruples  about  impairing  their  power  to 
do  good,  by  going  counter  to  the  current  of  opinion, 
even  when  they  know  it  to  be  false  ;  some,  from 
fear  of  incurring  odium,  or  displeasing  the  laity  in 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  361 

whose  pockets  their  livelihood  lies  ;  and  some,  sim- 
ply because  it  is  their  nature  to  imbibe,  without 
reflection,  the  opinions  that  pass  current  around 
them,  according  to  what  old  Jeremy  Taylor  says  : 
"  It  is  the  iniquity  of  men  that  they  suck  in  opin- 
ion as  the  wild  asses  do  the  wind,  without  distin- 
guishing the  wholesome  from  the  corrupted  air, 
and  then  live  upon  it  at  a  venture/' 

We  say  false  and  pernicious  opinion  ;  for  noth- 
ing in  the  world  can  be  less  grounded  in  reason,  or 
more  mischievous  in  its  influence,  than  the  opinion 
which  makes  it  odious  for  the  Christian  minister  to 
preach  the  sort  of  political  preaching  we  have  sig- 
nalized as  belonging  to  the  functions  of  the  pulpit, 
and  which  alone  we  are  concerned  to  justify. 

What  principle  does  this  opinion  go  upon  ?  At 
bottom  it  can  have  no  conceivable  ground  in  reason, 
except  this  :  that  Christianity  has  absolutely  noth- 
ing whatever  in  any  way  to  do  with  politics — that 
the  two  things  stand  in  no  relations  to  each  other. 
But  is  this  doctrine  true  ?  It  is — provided  there 
is  nothing  in  the  poHtical  action  of  men  and  gov- 
ernments which  falls  within  the  sphere  of  morals  : 
otherwise,  not.  To  hear  some  men  talk,  one  would 
imagine  they  believed  politics  and  morals  to  be  en- 
tirely out  of  each  other's  sphere,  heterogenous  even, 
16 


362  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

and  falling  within  no  common  sphere  ;  and  conse- 
quently that  it  is  as  absurd  to  apply  the  moral 
judgments  of  Christianity  to  the  maxims  and  prac- 
tices of  politicians  and  parties,  and  to  the  conduct 
of  governments,  as  it  would  be  to  apply  them  to 
the  quarrels  of  cats  and  dogs,  the  turnings  and 
doublings  of  the  fox,  or  the  predatory  forays  of  a 
commonwealth  of  ants  into  the  enclosures  of  aphides 
belonging  to  a  neighboring  commonwealth. 

But  talk  as  men  may,  they  cannot  look  such  a 
doctrine  in  the  face,  and  stand  up  to  the  affirma- 
tion of  it.  Politics  do  fall  within  the  sphere  of 
morals,  not  wholly,  indeed — for  there  are  matters 
in  politics  which  are  morally  indifferent — ^but  to  a 
great  extent  and  in  a  multitude  of  particulars  :  and 
morality  is  ever  the  same  in  essence,  its  principles 
are  identical  in  every  variety  of  application.  You 
cannot  have  two  standards  of  morahty — one  for 
public  and  political,  and  another  for  private  and 
social  life. 

Now  we  take  for  granted  not  only  that  the  prin- 
ciples and  precepts  of  Christianity  embody  an  eth- 
ical code  of  the  purest  rational  order,  but  that  for 
the  people  of  this  country  they  are  the  supreme 
law  of  moral  conduct,  the  paramount  standard  of 
moral  judgment ;  and  therefore  they  have  a  legiti- 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  363 

mate  application  to  every  particular  of  political  ac- 
tion of  which  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  are  pred- 
icable. 

This  application  it  is  the  business  and  duty  of 
the  Christian  clergy  to  make.  It  belongs  to  the 
very  idea  of  their  calling,  that  they  should  preach 
Christianity  in  its  integrity  and  completeness. 
What  else  is  their  function  ?  For  what  else  do 
they  exist  as  a  body  of  official  persons  ?  They  are 
bound  to  preach,  in  due  proportion,  all  the  princi- 
ples and  precepts  of  Christianity  in  all  their  appli- 
cations— to  the  public  no  less  than  to  the  private 
conduct  of  the  people,  to  the  action  of  government 
no  less  than  to  that  of  individuals. 

Besides,  in  every  free  government,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  it  is  free,  the  welfare  of  the  nation  de- 
mands this  enforcement  of  Christianity  upon  the 
people  at  large.  In  other  governments  it  may  be 
enough  for  the  rulers  to  understand  and  feel  the 
obligations  Christianity  imposes  upon  them  as 
rulers  ;  the  popular  teachings  of  the  pulpit  may  be 
safely  enough  limited  to  instructions  in  piety  and 
private  morals.  But  where  democratic  institutions 
and  universal  suffrage  prevail,  the  people  are  the 
rulers.  They  have  political  rights  ;  and  it  is  all- 
important  they  should  understand  and  feel  that 


364  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

these  rights  are  at  the  same  time  sacred  duties,  for 
the  virtuous  and  faithful  discharge  of  which  they 
are  responsible  to  their  country  and  their  Grod. 
The  supreme  power  is  in  their  hands,  and  it  is  infi- 
nitely important  they  should  have  a  profound  prac- 
tical conviction  that  the  destiny  of  the  nation  de- 
pends on  the  way  they  exercise  that  power.  A 
sovereign  people  may  be  the  worst  of  all  sovereigns. 
History  has  put  on  record  at  least  one  demonstra- 
tion of  this  truth,  never  through  all  time  to  be  ef- 
faced. It  is  so  trite  a  saying,  that  one  is  almost 
ashamed  to  repeat  it — but  it  is  so  trite  because  it 
is  so  true — that  the  success  of  a  popular  govern- 
ment depends  on  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the 
people.  Coleridge  would  perhaps  have  tried  to  give 
emphatic  point  to  it,  by  adding  that  it  must  be  a 
virtuous  intelligence  and  an  intelligent  virtue. 
But  a  mere  unreflecting  admission  of  this  truth,  in 
a  bare  theoretical  way,  is  of  no  use.  There  are 
great  moral  lessons  of  political  right  and  righteous- 
ness, which  must  be  practically  learned  by  the  peo- 
ple, to  be  any  effectual  guaranty  for  the  happiness 
of  society,  the  success,  safety,  or  permanent  con- 
tinuance of  a  free  government. 

It  is  infinitely  important,  therefore,  in  our  coun- 
try, that  the  whole  people  should  be  instructed 


POLITICS  AND   THE   PULPIT.  365 

and  enlightened  in  all  that  regards  the  just  exercise 
of  their  political  rights.  It  is  infinitely  important 
that  the  sacred  duties,  and  the  immense  responsi- 
bilities, inseparable  from  the  possession  of  those 
rights,  should  be  taught  and  practically  enforced, 
from  the  highest  moral  and  Christian  point  of  view. 

Now  how  are  the  people  to  get  this  instruction  ? 

It  will  not  do  to  leave  them  to  political  dema- 
gogues. Where  the  people  are  the  sovereign,  dem- 
agogues wiU  be  the  courtiers,  and  like  all  courtiers, 
will  flatter  and  cajole,  in  order  to  lead  and  control. 
They  will  never  preach  to  the  people  the  limita- 
tions which  moral  duty  imposes  upon  their  sov- 
ereignty. Like  Richelieu  they  will  make  the  sov- 
ereign absolute — and  with  the  same  end  in  view. 

Nor  will  it  do  to  leave  the  people  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  popular  press.  The  Press — that  which 
especially  so  calls  itself — is  mostly  a  party  press  ; 
but  whether  so  or  not,  it  never  has  so  pressed,  and 
never  will  so  press  upon  the  people,  the  high  mo- 
tives of  Christian  obligation  which  ought  to  govern 
them  in  the  exercise  of  their  political  rights  and 
duties,  as  to  leave  nothing  needful  and  important 
for  the  pulpit  to  do  in  this  respect. 

We  do  not  mean  in  any  sweeping  way  to  dis- 
parage or  undervalue  the  press.     It  may  always  be 


366  POLITICS   AND    THE    PULPIT. 

relied  upon  to  expose  and  denounce  political  fraud 
and'  corruption  in  the  conduct  of  tlie  party  it  op- 
poses. It  has  also,  irrespective  of  party  relations, 
often  lifted  up  its  voice  against  public  injustice, 
wrong  and  crime,  in  such  a  right  honest,  earnest, 
true  moral  and  Christian  way,  as  to  shame  the  si- 
lence or  feeble  voice  of  the  pulpit. 

But  it  too  often  happens  that  the  press  is  not 
on  the  side  of  moral  right.  It  too  often  goes  for 
the  wrong,  excusing  or  defending  it,  concealing  or 
denying  the  truth  and  facts  of  the  case,  or  pervert- 
ing and  distorting  them — covering  up  the  real  is- 
sues and  making  false  ones — corrupting  or  perplex- 
ing the  moral  sense  by  special  pleadings,  and  so 
deluding  and  misleading  the  people.  But  apart 
from  any  such  direct  and  positive  corrupting  influ- 
ence, the  press  is  too  apt  to  preach  to  the  people 
of  their  rights,  without  a  corresponding  eiifi^rce- 
ment  of  the  duties  that  go  ever  inseparably  with 
them,  and  thus  to  nurse  the  people  in  an  exagger- 
ated sense  of  rights  and  a  feeble  sense  of  duties — 
than  which  nothing  can  in  the  long  run  be  more 
pernicious  and  dangerous. 

But  it  is  needless  to  urge  this  point  further.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  if  the  press  contributed  a 
great  deal  more  than  it  does  to  the  right  moral 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  367 

guidance  of  the  people,  the  duty  of  the  Christian 
clergy  in  the  matter  would  not  on  that  account  be 
diminished  ;  whjle  on  the  other  hand,  the  undenia- 
bly defective  and  often  pernicious  influence  of  the 
press,  renders  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty 
all  the  more  important. 

And  so  there  can  be  but  one  answer  to  the 
question,  where  should  we  look  first  and  mainly  for 
the  people  to  get  that  instruction  and  admonition 
in  political  righteousness,  which  it  is  indispensably 
necessary  they  should  have,  in  order  to  the  safe 
working  of  democratic  institutions.  It  is  to  the 
pulpit,  whose  very  function  it  is  to  enforce  moral- 
ity, the  morality  of  the  Christian  religion — the 
highest  and  purest  morality — in  all  its  length  and 
breadth  and  strictness. 

Besides,  the  opinion  which  would  prohibit  the 
pulpit  from  applying  the  principles  and  precepts  of 
Christianity  to  politics,  goes  to  the  entire  separa- 
tion of  the  political  life  of  a  nation  from  its  moral 
and  religious  life — in  any  nation,  that  is,  where  the 
supreme  power  is  in  the  body  of  the  people — and 
the  unity  of  a  nation's  life  cannot,  any  more  than 
that  of  an  individual  person,  be  thus  divided  with- 
out harm.  This  is  not  saying  that  civil  govern- 
ments have  their  foundation,  or  their  origin,  in  the 


368  POLITICS   AND   THE  PULPIT. 

principles  of  religion  or  morals.  We  liold  no  suck 
doctrine.  We  might  admit  even  what  Macaulay 
says,  that  "  there  is  no  sense  in  which  religion  can 

»     be  said  to  be  the  basis  of  government,  in  which  it 

'  is  not  also  the  basis  of  the  practices  of  eating, 
drinking,  and  lighting  fires  in  cold  weather."  This 
may  be  quite  true.  The  inconveniences  of  anarchy, 
and  the  necessity  of  social  order,  may  be  a  suffi- 
cient basis  for  government  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  jural  relations,  quite  distinct  from  the  principles 
of  religion,  or  even  of  morals.  But  what  then  ? 
Would  it  follow  that  the  action  of  government — 
and  in  a  democratic  government,  the  political  con- 
duct of  the  people — should  not  be  regulated  and 
controlled  by  religious  or  moral  principles,  in  order 
to  secure  the  very  ends  of  expediency  and  advant- 
age  for  which  governments  exist  ?      Not  at  all. 

^  The  practices  of  eating,  drinking,  and  lighting  fires 
in  cold  weather — and  a  thousand  other  practices, 

\  alike  morally  indifferent  in  themselves — ^must  be 
thus  regulated  and  controlled,  or  the  gravest  mis- 
chiefs will  ensue.  Divide  the  unity  of  our  na- 
tional life  ;  cut  ofi"  its  politics  from  the  permeating 
and  actuating  power  of  a  pure  moral  and  religious 
spirit ;  and  what  is  the  consequence  ?  It  is  just  a 
surrendering  of  the  political  life  of  the  nation  to 


POLITICS   AND  THE   PULPIT.  369 

the  Evil  One  ;  and  everybody  knows  what  we  mean, 
whether  they  believe  in  the  existence  of  that  per- 
sonage or  not. 

Besides,  in  such  a  case,  there  cannot  be,  or  will 
not  long  be,  any  true  religious  and  moral  life  in  the 
nation.  To  give  up  one-half  of  a  nation's  practi- 
cal life  to  the  Devil,  and  yet  save  the  other  half  to 
God,  is  a  problem  of  impossible  accomplishment. 
The  upshot  of  the  attempt  to  serve  God  and  Mam- 
mon is  that  Mammon  becomes  the  only  God  that 
is  served :  the  service  of  the  True  God  becomes 
inevitably  an  hypocrisy  and  a  sham. 

And  as  to  morals — there  is  nothing  history  more 
undeniably  demonstrates,  than  that  public  corrup- 
tion, in  a  country  like  ours,  sooner  or  later,  eats 
out  the  very  heart  of  the  private  morals  of  a  na- 
tion. How  long  will  truth  and  honor,  virtue  and 
justice,  prevail  in  the  private  relations  of  a  people 
politically  unprincipled,  corrupt  and  vicious  ? 
There  may  always  be  righteous  men — more  or  fewer 
-^ven  in  Sodom  ;  but  no  pure  moral  law  can  long 
be  the  actuating  principle  of  the  private  life  of  the 
great  masses,  who  profligately  disregard  the  princi- 
ples of  morality  in  their  political  conduct.  A  certain 
amount  of  thieves'  law  there  may  be — and  must 
be,  in  order  to  hold  society  together — but  no  pure 
16* 


370  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

mojal  law  in  the  heart  of  the  nation.  And  a  fine 
spectacle  of  a  people  is  that  whose  highest  moral 
spirit  finds  its  expression  in  policemen  and  other 
machineries  for  keeping  rogues  from  damaging  each 
other  in  a  certain  number  of  too  severely  inconven- 
ient ways  ! 

So  much  in  a  general  way.  Let  us  now  con- 
sider certain  special  objections. 

And  first,  it  is  asked  :  what  is  this  mingling  of 
religion  and  politics  in  the  pulpit — this  concession 
to  the  clergy  of  the  politico-ethical  instruction  of 
the  people — what  is  it  but  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  which  all  history  proves  to  be  so  perni- 
cious 5ind  dangerous  ? 

Great  is  cant !  Wonderful  is  cant  !  whether 
infidel  or  pious  1 

There  is,  doubtless,  such  a  thing  as  the  union 
of  Church  and  State.  And  it  is,  or  may  be,  a  very 
bad  thing.  In  a  monarchic,  or  oligarchic  absolut- 
ism, where  the  State  takes  the  Church  into  pay, 
gives  it  powers  and  controls  the  exercise  of  them, 
there  Christianity  may  be  corrupted  into  a  tool  of 
despotism  for  the  enslaving  of  the  people.  So,  too, 
in  a  government  where  the  political  power  is  vested 
in  the  Church,  or  controlled  by  the  Church,  there 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  371 

will  be  a  theocratic  or  sacerdotal  absolutism — as 
dangerous  as  any,  and  possibly  more  pernicious 
than  any  other  sort  of  absolutism.  In  either  of 
these  cases  there  is  room  for  talking  of  the  union 
of  Church  and  State. 

But  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sensible  and  to 
the  purpose,  what  room  is  there  for  talking  about 
Church  and  State,  in  a  country  where  the  Church 
is  neither  controlled  by  the  State,  nor  possesses  any 
of  the  powers  of  the  State,  nor  any  other  power, 
except  that  of  preaching — which  it  enjoys  in  com- 
mon with  the  press,  with  political  orators,  with 
stump-speakers,  lecturers,  and  all  other  public  talk- 
ers ?  Would  you  take  from  the  clergy  the  right  of 
free  speech,  and  leave  it  to  all  other  pubhc  talkers  ? 
Why  ?  May  they  not  be  as  safely  trusted  as  the 
other  talkers  ?  What  power  have  they  but  to  talk 
to  such  as  choose  to  listen  ?  They  can  compel  no- 
body to  listen.  They  can  compel  nobody  to  believe 
what  they  say,  or  to  act  as  they  say.  They  may 
convince  and  persuade  such  as  choose  to  be  con- 
vinced and  persuaded.     What  then  ? 

"Why,  priestcraft."  Cant  again — and  with- 
out a  grain  of  truth  besides.  It  is  not  priestcraft ; 
it  is  nothing  but  influence — the  legitimate  influ- 
ence of  free  public  talk.     It  is  speechcraft,  if  you 


372  POLITICS   AND   THE    PULPIT. 

please ;  and  by  what  right  would  you  repress  the 
speechcraft  of  the  pulpit  any  more  than  that  of  the 
press,  the  rostrum,  the  stump,  or  any  other  form 
of  free  public  speech  ?  Is  it  an  influence  to  be 
dreaded  any  more  than  that  of  the  other  forms  of 
free  speech  ?  The  clergy  have  no  political  offices, 
honors  or  emoluments  to  gain,  as  most  other  pubHc 
talkers  have.  It  is  utterly  absurd,  in  a  country 
like  this,  to  imagine  any  combination  among  them, 
as  a  caste  or  order,  to  gain  political  power,  or  to 
wield  a  corrupt  influence,  dangerous  to  the  liberties 
and  welfare  of  the  people.  It  is  possible  error  may, 
in  some  individual  instances,  be  preached — honestly 
or  corruptly ;  but  that  is  no  reason  for  repressing 
the  free  speech  of  the  pulpit,  any  more  than  that  of 
the  press,  the  rostrum,  or  the  stump.  But  on  the 
whole,  if  there  is  any  class  of  men  in  the  country, 
likely  to  be  disinterested  preachers  of  salutary  po- 
htical  truth  and  righteousness,  it  is  the  Christian 
clergy.  The  fair  presumption  is  that  standing  in 
the  pulpit,  with  the  responsibility  of  God's  minis- 
ters upon  them,  they  wILl  honestly  and  rightly  ap- 
ply and  enforce  the  obligations  of  patriotism,  jus- 
tice and  love  which  Christianity  imposes  upon  men's 
conduct  as  citizens ;  and  there  is  not  a  decently 
intelligent,  honest   and   honorable  infidel   on  the 


POLITICS   AND    THE    PULPIT.  373 

globe,  but  will  admit  that  so  far  as  a  people  can  be 
influenced  to  exercise  their  rights  as  citizens,  under 
a  true  religious  and  Christian  sense  of  those  obli- 
gations, it  is  the  best  security  in  the  world  for  the 
safe  and  happy  working  of  democratic  institutions. 

Away  then  with  this  cant  and  nonsense  about 
sacerdotal  power  in  a  country  like  this  ! 

It  is  time,  indeed,  that  the  mass  of  ignorant 
prejudices  on  the  whole  subject,  in  relation  to  the 
past,  as  well  as  to  the  present,  should  be  exploded 
— that  the  whole  people  should  learn  what  the 
learned  already  know  well  enough  :  that  after  all 
that  is  said  and  all  that  is  true  about  priestly  pan- 
dering to  tyrannical  power,  there  is  another  side  of 
the  story,  and  it  still  remains  true,  that  the  cause 
of  freedom,  human  rights  and  true  progress,  owes 
more  to  the  Christian  clergy,  all  through  the  ages, 
than  to  any  other  single  class. 

In  the  first  ages  they  alone  proclaimed  the  equal 
rights  of  all — denounced  the  sin  of  holding  the 
members  of  Christ's  Body  in  bondage— preached 
manumission  as  the  most  sacred  duty  of  charity — 
sold  the  holy  vessels  of  the  churches  to  redeem  the 
bondman  from  his  chains,  and  incited  the  rich  to 
a  like  sacrifice  of  wealth.  During  the  stormy  pe- 
riod of  the  Barbarian  invasions,  they  were  the  pow- 


37S^  POLITICS    AND    THE   PULPIT. 

erful  and  only  protectors  of  the  poor  against  the 
rude  conquerors,  who  came  seizing  both  the  soil 
and  its  tillers  as  their  property. — In  the  Feudal 
ages,  they  alone  proclaimed  the  equality  and  equal 
rights  of  men,  and  opened,  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Church,  a  career  for  the  talents  and  abilities  of  the 
lowliest  born.  The  monasteries  were  Christian 
democracies,  and  though  subsequently  corrupted, 
yet  for  several  centuries,  in  spite  of  the  faults  ne- 
cessarily incident  to  such  institutions,  they  con- 
ferred immense  benefits  upon  civilization — ras  places 
of  hospitality  to  the  poor,  of  refuge  for  the  weak 
against  the  strong,  around  which  flourished  a  rich 
agriculture,  and  within  which  were  preserved  all 
the  light  and  knowledge  that  were  preserved  amidst 
the  darkness  of  those  rude  and  violent  times. — At 
a  later  day  the  clergy  began  and  carried  forward  the 
Eeformation — translated  the  Bible  for  the  people — 
combated  the  Papal  power — and  died  at  the  stake 
for  the  cause  of  spiritual  freedom.  And  from  that 
day  to  this,  throughout  all  Protestant  Christendom, 
the  cause  of  good  learning  and  popular  education 
lias  owed  to  them — we  will  not  say  more  than  to 
all  other  classes  together,  but  undeniably  more  to 
them  than  to  any  other  single  class. — And  in  all 
time  to  come,  we  may  be  sure  of  this  :  that  no  de- 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  375 

mocracy  will  be  reasonable,  safe  or  endurable,  ex- 
cept a  Christian  democracy  ;  and  for  that  there 
must  be  a  free  Christian  ministry.  "  Without  the 
priesthood,"  says  one  of  the  most  sharp  thinking 
and  strong  speaking  writers  of  the  day,  "  there  can 
be  no  freedom  for  the  people.  .  .  .  Statesmen,  who 
would  keep  the  people  fettered,  find  it  necessary  to 
keep  the  priesthood  fettered  also."*  In  democratic 
governments  profligate  politicians  (and  none  but 
such)  have  an  interest  to  fetter  the  freedom  of  the 
pulpit  ;  and  as  they  cannot  do  it  by  political  or 
legal  power  (like  the  statesmen  in  despotic  govern- 
ments) they  seek  to  do  it  by  appealing  to  vulgar 
passion  and  prejudice,  and  stirring  up  popular 
odium  ;  and  if  the  tyranny  of  false  opinion  is  not 
enough,  mobs  and  tar  and  feathers,  or  other  less 
mild  persuasives,  are  the  not  unfrequent  resort. 

But  to  turn  to  objections  which  take  more  the 
form  of  pious  concern  for  religion,  and  the  just  in- 
fluence of  its  ministers. 

There  is  one  we  notice  first,  because  it  purports 
to  go  against  the  principle  on  which  we  rest  the 
justification  of  "  political  preaching,"  so  far  as  we 
have  undertaken  to  justify  it.     The  objection  is 

*  Alton  Locke,  p.  362. 


376  POLITICS   AND    THE   PULPIT. 

that  the  principle  goes  too  far,  includes  too  much  ; 
since,  on  the  ground  of  it,  "  ministers  must  concern 
themselves,  as  ministers,  in  all  the  arts  and  em- 
ployments of  life,  for  there  is  nothing  pertaining  to 
humanity  that  has  not  more  or  less  of  a  religious 
bearing."'^' 

These  terms  are  not  an  exact  expression  of  the 
principle  in  question.  It  is  not  merely  as  having 
"  more  or  less  of  a  religious  bearing/'  that  we  go 
for  the  right  and  duty  of  the  preacher  to  preach 
about  certain  political  matters.  Our  principle  is  a 
practical  one,  and  one  of  degree,  relating  to  ques- 
tions of  right  and  wrong,  affecting  the  character 
and  destiny  of  the  nation  ;  and  it  is  not  true  that 
"all  the  arts  and  employments  of  life"  come 
equally  or  fairly  within  its  application.  But  no 
matter.  Suppose  they  do  :  what  then  ?  No  mat- 
ter how  far  the  principle  goes — that  is  no  valid 
objection  to  it,  unless  it  goes  to  include  the  allow- 
ance of  something  confessedly  objectionable.  If  a 
minister  cannot  rightly  instruct  his  flock  in  their 
duties  without  "  concerning  himself,  as  a  minister, 
in  all  the  arts  and  employments  of  life" — why, 
then,  in  heaven's  name,  let  him  "  concern  himself" 
with  them.     That  is  what  he  is  for.     If  he  has  a 

*  Church  Review,  Oct.,  1856. 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  377 

congregation  of  swill-milk  vendors,  or  cat-meat 
sausage  makers,  and  cannot  make  them  compre- 
hend the  enormity  of  their  traffic  without  going 
into  a  pulpit  discussion  of  the  whole  science  of  milk, 
or  meat,  let  him  go  into  it.  So  with  stock  gam- 
bling, and  the  "  tricks  of  trade,"  its  immoral  max- 
ims and  sharp  practices — why  should  the  preacher 
hesitate  to  go  into  a  special  exposition  of  those 
"  arts  and  employments  of  life,"  if  it  be  necessary 
in  order  to  awaken  the  consciences  of  thriving  and 
"  respectable "  Christians  addicted  to  them,  or  to 
warn  and  caution  others  ?  And  in  fine,  as  to  all 
the  "  arts  and  employments  of  life,"  however  honest 
and  honorable,  what  possible  good  reason  can  there 
be  why  the  Christian  preacher  should  not,  in  due 
proportion,  specially  "  concern  himself"  with  them, 
if  thereby  he  can  best  strengthen  his  flock  to  resist 
the  temptations,  or  to  discharge  the  duties  specially 
pertaining  to  them  ? 

The  principle  we  go  upon  is  not  then  unsound. 
It  does  not  go  to  justify  any  thing  wrong  or  unfit. 
Ifc  does  not,  therefore,  go  too  far. 

But,  they  tell  us,  the  Founder  of  Christianity 
has  clearly  marked  the  separation  between  the  spir- 
itual and  the  temporal  order,  and  the  peculiar 


378  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

province  of  His  ministers,  hy  His  saying  :  "  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'' 

Eightly  understood  it  is  a  weighty  truth  this 
saying  declares.  But  what  has  it  to  do  with  the 
question  in  hand  ?  Though  not  of  the  world^ 
Christ's  kingdom  is  in  the  world,  is  set  up  precisely 
to  overthrow  the  kingdom  of  Evil  in  the  world,  to 
make  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  the  kingdoms 
of  God  ;  and  a  grand  and  solemn  struggle  between 
the  kingdom  of  Grod  and  the  kingdom  of  Evil,  is 
the  inmost  sense  of  the  world's  whole  history.  The 
Founder  Himself  of  this  kingdom  has  bid  us  pray 
for  its  coming  on  the  earth.  To  promote  its  tri- 
umph here  is  eminently  the  function  of  His  minis- 
ters. A  nice  way  of  making  it  come,  to  surrender 
one-half  the  world's  life  to  the  dominion  of  politi- 
cians and  the  devil !  Political  sins,  wrongs,  crimes 
— ^that  is,  sins  perpetrated  in  the  political  sphere — 
are  as  much  spiritual  evils,  and  therefore  fall  as 
much  within  the  province  of  the  pulpit,  as  any 
other  sins,  wrongs  and  crimes.  They  belong  to  the 
kingdom  of  Evil,  which  the  Christian  preacher  is 
to  combat  and  subdue. 

"^A,  hut  the  weapons  of  his  warfare  are  not 
carnal  hut  spiritual ! " 


POLITICS   AND    THE   PULPIT.  379 

The  soft  ineptitude  and  irrelevancy  of  this  pious 
platitude  would  be  simply  amusing,  if  it  were  not 
vexatious  to  think  there  are  human  beings,  with 
brains  in  their  heads,  so  foolish  as  to  utter  it,  and 
other  human  beings  so  foolish  as  to  logk  upon  it  as 
a  respectable  utterance,  and  so  to  make  an  answer 
needful. — Let  us  try  then  to  answer  them,  "  not 
according  to  their  folly,''  though  it  may  be  logic 
thrown  away. 

Is  it,  then,  0  inept  and  irrelevant  friends,  a 
question  about  the  sort  of  weapons,  or  about  the 
use  of  them  ?  Granted  that  the  Christian  preach- 
er's weapons  are  not  the  bowie-knife,  revolver. 
Sharpens  rifle,  howitzer,  or  any  other  form  of  "  car- 
nal weapons,''  but  only  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
which  is  the  Word  of  God," — ^yet  is  not  the  ques- 
tion between  us  precisely  this  :  what  is  he  to  strike 
at  with  that  sword  ?  Is  he  to  strike  only  at  pri- 
vate and  not  at  public  sins  ?  Is  he  to  hit  away 
sharply  at  dancing,  card  playing,  theatre  and  opera 
going,  the  Sunday  fresh  air  recreations  of  poor  ar- 
tisans and  their  children,  pent  up  all  the  week  in 
unwholesome  places — and  never  to  aim  a  single 
stroke  at  political  corruption,  fraud,  crime,  oppres- 
sion, cruelty  ?  To  our  poor  notion,  the  preacher 
who,  in  a  crisis  of  great  national  wickedness,  when 


380  POLITICS    AND    THE   PULPIT. 

judgment  and  mercy  are  crushed  beneath  the  iron 
foot  of  power,  does  not  rush  to  the  rescue  with 
strong  arm  and  clear  ringing  shout  for  "  God  and 
the  Eight/'  must  be  either  too  foolish  a  person  to 
be  trusted  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  or  else  a 
recreant  coward  or  traitor  to  his  Lord. 

.  Or  do  you  (perhaps)  mean  by  "  spiritual  weap- 
ons/' preaching  against  such  sins  as  Sabbath-break- 
ing and  the  like,  and  by  "  carnal  weapons,"  preach- 
ing against  political  sins — that  the  same  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  the  same  word  of  God,  when  directed 
against  "  worldly  amusements,''  for  instance,  is  a 
"  spiritual  weapon,''  but  when  directed  against  po- 
litical rascalities,  national  crimes,  and  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  people  who  choose  or  sustain  the  public 
men  that  perpetrate  such  things,  is  a  "carnal 
weapon  ? "  If  this  be  your  idea,  then,  0  sharp 
and  clear-seeing  friends,  the  distinction  is  too  fine 
for  us  to  see  it.     We  can  talk  no  further  with  you. 

.  But  Christ  lias  hid  us  "  render  unto  Goesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's." 

Yes,  and  godly  bishops  of  Christ's  Church, 
when  warning  their  clergy  against  "  preaching  pol- 
itics,"  quote  this  text.     There  is  not,  perhaps,  in 


POLITICS    AND    THE   PULPIT.  381 

the  whole  Bible,  a  text  that  has  been  so  excessively 
ill-used.  Our  Lord  evaded  a  direct  answer  to  a 
malicious  ensnaring  question ;  and  because  the 
question  happened  to  have  a  political  bearing, 
therefore  his  ministers  are  never  to  open  their 
mouths  to  preach  on  any  political  subject — -exhort, 
rebuke,  plead,  warn,  though  humanity  lies  bleed- 
ing, and  justice  and  mercy  are  perishing  in  the 
streets,  and  every  impulse  of  love  to  God  and  love 
to  man  prompts  them  to  lift  up  their  voice  !  A 
precious  and  noble  specimen  of  logic  and  of  feeling, 
of  head  and  of  heart ! 

Nor  less  remarkable  is  the  perversion  of  our 
Lord's  language.  The  meaning  lying  on  the  face 
of  it  is  as  clear  as  the  sun.  It  embodies  the  sim- 
plest axiom  of  universal  morals,  old  as  the  ages  : 
suum  cuique  ;  yet  it  has  been  a  thousand  times 
quoted  to  prove  what  it  does  not  come  within  a 
thousand  miles  of  touching.  Because  our  Lord 
said  Caesar  is  to  have  his  own  things  and  God  His 
own  things,  does  that  prove  that  politics  and  relig- 
ion are  to  be  kept  entirely  separate — that  politics 
belong  exclusively  to  Caesar,  and  neither  God  nor 
His  ministers  have  a  right  to  say  a  word  about 
them  ?  That  is  a  long  logical  leap  !  We  need 
not  wonder  that  those  who  take  it  can  jump  fur- 


382  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

ther  still,  and  make  the  saying  mean  that  Caasar's 
things  are  Caesar's,  and  God's  things  are  Csesar's 
too,  if  Csesar  choose  to  put  his  stamp  upon  them — 
at  least,  that  God's  ministers,  in  such  a  casCj  must 
not  say  they  are  not. 

But  to  us  it  seems  that  there  is  a  great  deal  in 
politics  which  belongs  to  God,  and  if  not  rendered 
to  Him  will  be  rendered  to  something  worse  than 
Caesar.  Political  righteousness — justice,  mercy  and 
truth  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  are 
God's  things.  In  a  country  like  this,  it  is  one  of 
the  things  above  all  others  to  be  rendered  to  God, 
that  the  people  (who  have  the  power)  should  put 
into  and  sustain  in  office  only  such  men  as  will  rule 
righteously.  And  it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  the 
Christian  preacher  to  warn  the  people  perpetually 
that  if  they  do  otherwise,  disaster  and  evil  will 
come  upon  them  sooner  or  later — through  the  inev- 
itable operation  of  the  laws  that  govern  human 
history,  and  under  which  historical  causes  work  out 
the  destiny  of  nations. 

But  St.  Paul  said  lie  "  determined  to  know 
nothing  hut  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified"  and 
he  is  the  model  for  the  Christian  minister. 

To  be  sure  St.  Paul  did  say  so :  look  at  the 


POLITICS   AND    THE   PULPIT.  383 

place,  and  you  will  see  he  was  set  against  recog- 
nizing any  of  those  sectarian  divisions  that  had 
sprung  up  among  the  Christians  to  whom  he  was 
writing.  This  is  what  he  meant.  If  he  had  in- 
tended to  say,  in  literal  strictness,  that  he  preached 
about  nothing  but  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  even 
in  the  largest  view  of  that  subject  taken  by  the 
objectors,  he  would  have  told  an  untruth.  For  he 
did  preach  about  a  hundred  other  things — special 
points  of  morals,  order  and  decorum,  the  dress  and 
behavior  of  men  and  women,  financial  and  econom- 
ical regulations,  not  forgetting  also  points  of  civil 
and  political  obligation.  And  in  fine,  if  he  had 
conducted  according  to  the  notion  of  those  who 
•quote  him,  he  would  have  preached  Christ  without 
a  Christianity.  So  much  for  St.  Paul's  testimony 
against  political  preaching. 

But  it  is  urged  that  the  doctrine  we  lay  down, 
by  giving  allowance  to  preaching  on  questions  that 
may  be  in  issue  between  political  parties,  goes  to 
convert  the  pulpit  into  apolitical  arena,  and  the 
clergy  into  political  partisans. 

We  deny  this.  Our  doctrine  forbids  the  minis- 
ter of  religion  to  bring  into  the  pulpit  any  political 
questions,  except  such  as  involve  the  sacred  obliga- 


384  POLITICS    AND    THE   PULPIT. 

tions  of  Christian  duty ;  and  it  requires  him  to 
treat  all  such  questions  not  as  a  politician,  but  as 
God's  minister — setting  forth  God's  undeniable 
truth  on  the  matter,  regardless  whether  it  teU  for 
or  against  this  party  or  that  party.  If  he  does  any 
thing  else  than  this,  he  does  something  out  of  our 
rubric  ;  we  are  not  responsible  for  him.  If  he  does 
only  what  our  doctrine  allows  and  enjoins,  and  does 
it  in  a  right  honest,  earnest,  religious,  and  true 
Christian  way — as  he  may  do  and  should  do — he  just 
does  what  is  right,  fitting,  and  his  duty  to  do  ;  and 
it  is  a  falsehood  and  an  abuse  of  language  to  call  him 
a  political  partisan,  merely  because  the  matter  he 
speaks  of  may  be  in  issue  between  conflicting  par- 
ties. He  may  be  called  so,  by  those  who  know  bet- 
ter, because  the  truth  is  distasteful  or  inconvenient. 
That  is  no  reason  for  not  doing  his  duty.  He  may 
perhaps  be  honestly  mistaken  for  one,  because  he 
may,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  be  obliged  to 
take  sides,  or  to  seem  to  take  sides,  between  the 
conflicting  parties.  That  is  something  that  cannot 
be  helped.  Time  may  correct  the  misconception  ; 
most  likely  it  will,  in  the  long  run,  give  him  a 
chance  to  prove  his  impartial  fidelity  to  God's  truth, 
as  against  all  parties.  But  if  otherwise,  it  is  not 
his  fault,  but  the  fault  of  the  facts  of  the  case. 


POLITICS   AND    THE    PULPIT.  385 

All  lie  has  to  see  to  is  to  take  the  right  side,  to  go 
for  what  is  right  and  against  what  is  wrong  in  the 
sight  of  the  Most  High. 

But  it  may  be  said,  the  preacher  is  liable  to 
mistake  the  right  side — blessing  what  God  hath  not 
blessed,  and  cursing  tvhat  God  hath  not  cursed. 

This  is  possible.  But  there  is  an  end  of  all 
preaching  of  every  sort,  if  you  insist  on  having 
none  but  infallible  preachers. 

But  the  question  of  moral  right  and  duty,  it  is 
suggested,  may  be  far  from  clear :  honest  men  may 
differ  in  opinion  about  it. 

That  is  possible  too.  But  would  you  have  no 
preaching  on  any  subject  until  all  doubt  is  removed, 
and  all  honest  men  see  alike  ?  Kather,  on  the 
contrary,  the  more  reason  for  discussing  any  great 
question  of  right  and  wrong,  if  it  be  one  about  which 
honest  men  really  differ.  In  all  other  matters  this 
is  held  to  be  the  best  way  to  clear  up  doubt,  and 
bring  honest  men  to  be  of  one  mind. 

But  we  are  bid  consider  what  a  conflict  of  ora- 
cles toe  inaugurate— pulpit  against  pulpit — preacher 
against  'preacher,  one  banning,  another  blessing, 

and  both  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
17 


386  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

Well,  that  is  possible  ;  but  it  is  a  liability  that 
must  be  accepted  as  incident  to  all  progress  of 
truth.  The  minister  of  religion  has  nothing  for  it 
but  to  stand  up  for  the  cause  of  righteousness,  as 
he  in  his  best  conscience  understands  it.  Better 
earnest  controversy  out  of  love  for  the  right  cause, 
than  dead  silence  when  the  interests  of  eternal  jus- 
tice are  at  stake. 

But  we  are  told  the  clergy  themselves  loill  he  in 
constant  danger  of  falling  under  the  influence  of 
party  spirit  and  preaching  as  mere  political  parti- 
sans. 

Granted  the  possibility  again :  but  they  are  not 
to  turn  aside  from  the  path  of  duty  because  of 
temptations  in  it.  They  must  resist  the  tempta- 
tion. That  is  all.  There  is  grace  enough  for  every 
body  to  overcome  temptation  in  the  path  of  duty. 

But  this  sort  of  preaching,  it  is  rejoined,  tends 
to  foment  party  animosity  and  strife  among  the 
people,  to  excite  ilUwill  to  the  minister j  to  impair 
his  influence,  and  imperil  his  position. 

To  this  we  have  only  to  reply,  that  if  the  min- 
ister of  religion  preaches  only  God's  truth  and  in 
the  right  way  (and  if  he  does  not,  he  is  not  the 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  387 

man  we  are  defend^ing),  such  results,  if  they  occur, 
are  not  any  legitimate  tendency  of  his  preaching  ; 
and  he  is  not  responsible  for  any  tendency  in  men 
— whether  bad  men  or  good  men — to  pervert  what 
is  good.  The  worst  evils  come  from  abuse  of  the 
best  things.  Christ  himself  said  the  Grospel  of 
Peace  would  be  a  sword  and  a  strife.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  true  to  say  that  the  legitimate  tendency 
of  the  preaching  we  uphold  is  to  allay  party  spirit, 
to  lead  men  to  act  in  politics,  as  in  other  things, 
from  a  conscientious  regard  to  duty  and  right ;  and 
it  is  no  more  than  a  proper  homage  to  truth  and  to 
God's  ordination  of  things,  to  hope  and  to  believe 
that  it  will,  in  the  long  run  and  in  the  large  view, 
have  its  proper  influence,  rather  than  become  the 
occasion  of  evil  through  perversion.  But  whether 
so  or  not,  we  are  quite  sure  it  makes  no  difference 
as  to  the  Christian  preacher's  duty.  He  is  God's 
minister,  the  prophet  of  God's  truth  ;  and  not  the 
mere  stipendiary  agent  of  the  people,  employed  to 
conduct  the  ceremonial  of  pubHc  worship,  with  al- 
lowance to  say  in  the  pulpit  only  such  things  as 
suit  the  public  taste.  Those  good  people  who  are 
so  bitter  against  what  they  call  "  preaching  poli- 
tics," may  well  be  reminded  of  a  text  some  of  them 
are  very  fond  of  quoting  in  reference  to  the  faithful 


388  POLITICS   AND   THE    PULPIT. 

preacliing  of  doctrines,  not  agreeable  to  "  the  car- 
nal heart,"  (as  they  phrase  it,)  namely,  that  the 
minister  must  "  not  shun  to  declare  the  whole 
counsel  of  God,  whether  men  will  hear,  or  whether 
they  will  forbear."  Whether  this  text  applies  to 
the  great  quinquaticular  "  doctrines  of  grace "  or 
not,  we  are  very  clear  it  rightfully  applies  to  the 
duty  of  enforcing  the  principles  of  Christian  morals, 
and  testifying  against  public  wickedness  and  crime ; 
and  if  the  Gospel  preacher  does  this  in  a  right 
earnest,  loving,  true  Christian  way,  he  need  not 
disturb  himself  about  the  consequences,  least  of  all, 
consequences  personal  to  himself — ill-will,  loss  of 
place,  or  whatever  else.  It  is  God's  affair  to  take 
order  about  those  things. 

But  lohy  not  let  the  minister  limit  himself  to  in- 
culcating the  principles  and  precepts  of  Christianity 
in  a  general  way,  loithout  going  into  particular  ap- 
plications of  them  to  the  public  questions  of  the 
day,  about  which  men  and  parties  are  divided  ? 

To  which  question  we  reply  by  another  :  why 
should  he  do  this  ? 

It  is  a  crisis,  we  will  say — a  question  of  the  tri- 
umph of  right  or  wrong,  of  public  righteousness,  or 
public  crime,  of  individual  virtue  or  guilt,  and  of 


POLITICS  AND   THE  PULPIT.  389 

national  glory  and  welfare  or  disgrace  and  retribu- 
tion. That  is  the  hypothesis.  We  have  a  right 
to  make  it.  Let  this  be  noted.  It  is  the  ground 
we  take  stand  upon. 

Now  in  such  a  crisis,  why  should  the  Christian 
preacher  limit  himself  to  such  generalities  of  Chris- 
tian inculcation  ?  Is  there  any  good  reason  for  it  ? 
For,  otherwise,  one  would  say  every  thing  right- 
headed  and  right-hearted  in  him,  every  respectable 
impulse  of  human  nature,  would  bid  him  lift  up 
his  voice  with  most  unmistakable  specialty  of  ap- 
plication, and  pour  the  red-hot  Grod's  word  point- 
blank  at  the  thing  he  meant  to  hit. 

Why,  then,  should  he  content  himself  with 
firing  off  great  vollies  of  soft  generalities,  aimed 
nowhere  in  particular  ? 

Is  it  to  avoid  the  risk  of  occasioning  increased 
dissension,  or  of  incurring  odium  and  loss  of  influ- 
ence, and  the  like  ?     This  is  mostly  what  is  urged. 

We  have  already  disposed  of  this.  But  we 
have  now  further  to  say  that  such  a  proceeding  is 
as  foolish  as  it  is  unworthy  of  God's  prophet.  The 
people  will  either  see  and  feel  the  special  applica- 
tion and  force  of  the  general  inculcation,  or  they 
will  not.  If  they  do,  nothing  or  next  to  nothing 
of  the  advantage  looked  for  will  be  gained  ;  the  ex- 


390  POLITICS    AND    THE    PULPIT. 

citement  and  offence  is  likely  to  be  quite  as  great. 
If  they  do  not,  the  preaching  does  no  good,  cer- 
tainly not  the  intended  good ;  and  can  a  more  mean 
and  contemptible  spectacle  be  presented  to  the  im- 
agination than  God's  prophet,  in  such  a  crisis, 
preaching  generalities  so  general  that  the  people 
cannot  see  and  feel  their  point  and  force — cannot 
see  what  he  is  driving  at.  But  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  him,  his  trumpet  must  either  blow  a 
blast  of  generalities  too  soft  to  arouse  the  slumber- 
ers  to  any  definite  comprehension  of  his  purpose, 
and  so  be  without  effect,  or  else  will  be  quite  as 
likely  to  cause  angry  disturbance  in  the  camp,  as 
the  most  clear  and  piercing  notes  of  alarm. 

But  why  then  meddle  at  all  with  such  subjects  ? 
Why  not  let  them  altogether  alone  ?  He  loill  thus 
avoid  odium,  preserve  his  official  influence  with  men 
of  all  parties,  and  thus  he  better  able  to  save  their 
soids — which  is  his  great  business  and  proper  work. 

This  is  very  specious.  It  has  a  soft  unction  of 
piety  about  it.  But  0  soft-hearted  friends,  who 
talk  thus,  let  us  understand  one  another  about  this 
"  saving  of  souls."  For  we,  for  our  part,  think 
there  is  scarcely  any  thing  about  which  so  much, 
and  such  pernicious  cant  and  falsehood  has  been 


POLITICS    AND   THE   PULPIT.  391 

said  and  sung,  as  about  this  same  matter  of  saving 
the  soul. 

Whatj  then,  do  you  mean  by  saving  the  soul  ? 
Is  it  merely  to  escape  a  certain  hot  intolerable 
place  when  one  dies,  and  to  get  into  comfortable 
quarters  in  the  other  world  ?  This,  we  fear,  is 
pretty  nearly  all  that  a  great  many  understand  by 
saving  the  soul. 

We  will  not  stop  now  to  suggest  what  a  mean 
conception  of  the  chief  end  of  a  rational  creature 
this  is  ;  nor  further,  that  he  who  makes  the  saving 
of  his  soul  his  supreme  end,  will  be  sure  to  lose  it ; 
nor,  in  fine,  that,  in  a  right  just  view,  the  soul  is 
well  saved  only  so  far  as  it  thinks  more  of  doing  its 
duty  than  of  any  thing  it  is  to  get  in  the  way  of 
payment,  either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to 
come — all  which  things  are  perhaps  dark  to  you, 
0  friends,  who  would  have  the  minister  let  political 
topics  alone,  and  stick  to  preaching  the  Gospel  and 
saving  souls. 

But  this  much  we  must  insist  upon  :  that  the 
soul  needs  saving  in  this  world,  in  order  to  get  well- 
saved  in  the  world  to  come,  and  that  this  needful 
salvation  consists  in  something  more  than  orthodox 
notions  or  devotional  fervors — ^in  truth,  honesty  and 
fair  dealing,  for  instance.      "  Clear  views  of  the 


392  POLITICS    AND   THE    PULPIT. 

vital  truths  of  the  Gospel/'  and  *^  sweet  commun- 
ion with  God  " — as  some  phrase  it — are  not  all  that 
is  needful.  Think  of  it :  what  sort  of  a  saved  soul 
is  he  who  has  "  clear  views  of  vital  truth,"  and 
believes  that  "all  is  fair  in  horse  trade" — ^holds 
"  sweet  communion  with  his  Maker,"  and  delights 
to  come  over  a  "  knowing  one,"  or  to  take  a  "green- 
horn'' in  ; — ^is  regular  at  family  prayers,  and  cheats 
in  weights  and  measures  in  his  trade  ; — carries 
round  the  plate  at  church,  and  swears  falsely  at  the 
Custom  House  ? 

But  consider,.  0  friends,  is  he  a  better  saved 
soul,  however  orthodox  in  the  faith  and  devout  in 
prayers,  who  beHeves  that  *'  all  is  fair  in  politics  " 
— cheats  at  elections,  stuffs  ballot-boxes,  and  swears 
to  false  returns,  or  connives  at  such  things,  hy  sup-  ■ 
porting  the  men  that  do  them  ?  Such  a  soul,  it 
seems  to  our  poor  judgment,  cannot  in  any  way  be 
well-saved,  either  for  this  world  or  the  next,  until 
it  leaves  off  such  practices.  Will  subscribing  to 
the  Tract  Society  atone  for  subscribing  to  a  corrup- 
tion fund  ?  Will  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen 
be  taken  as  an  offset  to  sending  armed  ruffians  to 
take  possession  of  the  polls,  and  keep  honest  voters 
from  their  right  ? 

It  seems  to  us  the  Gospel  preacher  should  speak 


POLITICS    AND    THE    PULPIT.  393 

plainly  to  his  people  about  such  things.  They  may 
be  angry  with  him.  So  a  congregation  of  swill- 
milk  dealers^  or  cat-meat  sausage  makers^  would 
most  likely  be  angry  at  hearing  their  traffic  de- 
nounced ;  but  should  the  Christian  preacher  on 
that  account  keep  a  hushed  silence  about  their 
callings,  and  work  away  at  saving  their  souls  ? 
Why,  he  knows  that  God  Himself  cannot  possibly 
save  them  unless  they  quit  the  swill-milk  traffic 
or  the  cat-meat  sausage  line.  Is  it  not  altogether 
best  for  him  plainly  to  tell  them  so  ? 

In  like  sort  it  seems  to  us  utterly  absurd  for  the 
Christian  preacher  to  keep  silence  about  political 
sins,  in  order  the  better  to  save  the  souls  of  politi- 
cal sinners.  And  wrong,  too  :  it  ministers  to  a 
terrible  delusion.  He  is  bound  to  warn  them  that 
unless  they  leave  off  practising,  or  supporting  the 
practice  of  political  wickedness,  neither  God,  nor 
any  thing  else  in  the  universe,  can  possibly  save  their 
souls. 

Besides,  saved  souls  are  needed  in  this  world — 
rightly  saved  souls,  who  make  the  precepts  of  the 
Gospel  the  rule  of  their  conduct  in  all  the  relations 
of  life — political  as  weU  as  social — who  love  their 
duty  so  well  that  they  do  not  stop  to  think  of  pay- 
ment in  another  world,  in  order  to  find  a  motive  for 
17* 


394  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

doing  it  in  this.  God  has  many  present  uses  for 
such  souls  besides  going  to  church  and  sacrament, 
praying  in  their  families  and  in  their  closets,  sub- 
scribing to  the  Tract  Society,  and  the  like  ;  among 
which  uses  we  reckon  eminently  the  standing  up 
for  truth  and  righteousness  against  fraud  and  cor- 
ruption, for  justice  and  mercy  against  oppression 
and  wrong  in  public  conduct.  And  so,  even  sup- 
posing'a  man,  who  is  recreant  to  Christian  princi- 
ples, may  be  a  good  enough  Christian  to  escape  un- 
comfortable quarters  in  another  world,  he  will  still 
be  a  very  poor  sort  of  Christian  for  some  of  the 
most  important  uses  God  has  for  Christians  in  this 
world. 

In  fine,  therefore,  we  do  not  see  but  the  Chris- 
tian preacher,  in  order  to  "  save  souls  "  to  any  good 
purpose,  either  for  this  world  or  for  the  next  must 
in  due  season  and  proportion,  concern  himself  more 
or  less  directly  with  political  matters,  cannot  let 
them  altogether  alone. 

But,  it  is  still  insisted,  that  if  the  minister 
preaches  the  Gospel,  wins  souls  to  Christ,  makes 
men  good  Christians,  there  is  no  need  of  political 
preaching  ;  get  the  heart  right  and  you  have  the 
sure  aire  for  all  political  and  social  evils. 


POLITICS   AND    THE   PULPIT.  395 

These  are  very  respectable  platitudes  of  phrase  ; 
there  would  not  be  a  word  to  say  against  them,  if 
they  were  not  used  to  beg  the  question.  They  im- 
ply the  assumption  that  in  a  free  country,  where 
the  people  have  political  powers,  rights,  duties — 
where  there  are  poHtical  temptations,  sins,  evils — 
you  can  preach  the  Gospel,  can  win  souls  to  Christ, 
can  make  men  good  Christians,  without  meddling 
in  any  special  way  with  political  subjects.  Which 
is  precisely  what  we  deny.  Besides,  where  does 
the  principle  go  ?  It  precludes  all  other  special 
preaching — makes  it  needless,  if  not  improper,  to 
preach  particularly  about  any  of  the  special  temp- 
tations, sins,  wrong  practices,  and  evil  customs  of 
society ;  and  would  make  great  placards  of  Chris- 
tian generalities  pasted  on  the  walls  of  churches, 
or  in  other  public  places,  answer  all  the  ends  of  the 
Christian  pulpit— at  a  great  saving  of  expense  ! 

But  not  to  urge  this — remember  that  to  get  the 
heart  right,  you  must  get  at  it.  How  are  you 
going  to  get  at  it,  if  it  is  environed  and  entrenched 
in  habits  and  customs,  maxims  and  practices  which 
it  does  not  see  or  feel  to  be  wrong  ?  Even  to  reach 
the  citadel,  there  are  sometimes  outworks  which 
must  first  be  carried. 

But  whether  so  or  not,  there  is  a  great  deal  of 


396  POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT. 

political  preaching,  or  of  the  proper  substance  of 
it,  that  must  in  some  way  be  got  into  men's  hearts 
in  this  country,  before  their  hearts  can  be  got  en- 
tirely right,  before  you  can  make  thoroughly  good 
Christians  of  them.  "  Converting  the  heart,"  in 
the  sense  our  obscurantist  friends  use  the  phrase,  is 
not  always  of  itself  enough  to  make  men  good  cit- 
izens. Our  "  converted  "  brethren  are  not,  in  point 
of  fact,  remarkably  better  models  of  political  holi- 
ness, than  other  men.  Our  churches  are  full  of 
"converted"  men,  who  seem  utterly  unconscious 
of  the  wickedness  of  political  fraud  and  corruption, 
unconscious  of  the  sin  of  upholding  it,  and  of  the 
enormities  of  public  crime,  of  which  they  are  the 
actual  upholders.  Such  men  need  a  great  deal 
more  conversion  before  they  can  become  really  good 
citizens,  or  thoroughly  good  Christians. 

Men  may  be  very  good  Christians  in  the  main, 
and  yet  "^ery  bad  Christians  in  particular  points. 
Good  old  John  Newton,  at  one  time  of  his  life,  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  used  to  devote  eight  hours  a 
day  to  sleep  and  meals,  eight  to  reading  the  Bible 
and  praying,  and  eight  to  fettering  and  stowing 
away  poor  negroes,  captured  in  bloody  wars  excited 
by  barrels  of  rum,  paid  by  him  to  barbarous  chiefs, 
— and  never  then,  nor  for  some  time  after,  felt  any 


POLITICS   AND   THE   PULPIT.  397 

contradiction  between  his  prayers  and  his  trade  ! 
To  some  men  Christianity  is  like  a  dark  lantern  ; 
it  does  not  illuminate  at  once  the  whole  sphere  of 
their  conscience :  you  must  sometimes  turn  its 
•flashing  light  right  upon  the  object  you  would 
make  them  see. 

Besides  :  if  ever  so  much  "  won  to  Christ," 
ever  so  well  '*  converted/'  men  need  to  be  kept 
from  falling  away — to  be  watched  and  strengthened 
by  perpetual  reiteration  of  instruction  and  warn- 
ing, as  special  as  the  ever-recurring  temptations  to 
which  they  are  exposed  ;  wherein  lies  one  great 
function  of  the  Christian  preacher. 

And  so  we  conclude  the  Grospel  cannot,  in  this 
country  at  least,  be  rightly  preached,  souls  truly 
won  to  Christ,  and  men  made  really  good  Chris- 
tians, so  as  to  accomplish  the  objects  proposed  by 
our  objectors,  namely,  to  make  men  good  citizens, 
and  so  to  put  an  end  to  political  sins  and  evils — 
without  a  certain  amount  of  duly- timed  and  judi- 
cious, in  one  word,  good  "  political  preaching." 
We  beg  it  may  be  sharply  noted  that  we  go  only 
for  that  which  is  good ;  for  however  earnestly  we 
defend  the  principle  of  political  preaching,  as  a 
matter  of  right  and  of  duty,  yet  we  are  as  little  in 
favor  of  foolish  political  as  of  any  other  foolish 
preaching. 


398  POLITICS    AND    THE    PULPIT. 

But  enough  for  objections.  There  is  not  one 
but  is  worthless  or  insufficient. 

We  conclude  by  directing  again  a  single  mo- 
ment's more  particular  attention  to  the  doctrine 
that  would  exclude  from  the  pulpit  all  questions 
that  may  be  in  issue  between  conflicting  parties  ; 
for  it  is  with  reference  to  this  point  that  the  objec- 
tions to  poHtical  preaching  have  the  greatest  show 
of  reason  and  force. 

Consider  then  the  consequences  of  the  doctrine. 
Where  does  it  go  ?  It  goes  in  principle  to  shut 
the  mouths  of  the  clergy  on  any,  and  so  by  conse- 
quence on  every  question  of  Christian  morals,  no 
matter  how  great  or  sacred.  No  matter  what 
wicked  ends  are  sought,  nor  by  what  wicked  means, 
God's  ministers  must  not  say  a  word,  if  profligate 
politicians  have  made  party  questions  of  them. 
The  African  Slave  Trade  and  Polygamy  are  as 
yet  crimes  in  law  as  well  as  in  morals,  and  no  po- 
litical party  has  taken  them  under  patronage  ;  it  is 
admitted  that  they  may  therefore  be  now  denounced 
in  the  pulpit.  But  let  the  legalization  of  these 
practices  be  attempted  by  any  party,  (and  it  would 
not  be  strange  if  the  former  measure  should  at  no 
distant  day  be  forced  into  issue,)  and  the  voice  of 
the  pulpit  must  be  hushed.     We  should  then  have 


POLITICS   AND   THE    PULPIT.  399 

Bishops  charging  their  clergy  to  render  to  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to  let  political 
subjects  alone  ! 

But  the  mere  theoretical  reach  of  the  principle 
apart,  what  is  the  necessary  influence,  on  the  popu- 
lar mind,  of  putting  into  vogue  this  notion  that 
nothing  must  be  said  in  the  pulpit  that  touches  on 
the  conduct  of  political  parties  ?  It  goes  to  im- 
bue the  great  mass  of  the  people  with  a  feeling 
that  politics  is  entitled  to  a  certain  immunity  and 
exemption  from  moral  criticism  and  moral  respon- 
sibility— that  crime  ceases  to  be  criminal,  atrocities 
are  no  longer  atrocious,  if  perpetrated  in  the  inter- 
est of  political  parties.  In  short,  the  putting  this 
notion  into  vogue  is  just  one  of  the  cunningest  of 
all  possible  contrivances,  to  sell  out  and  surrender 
the  conscience  of  the  nation  to  politicians  and  to 
the  Devil.  It  has  done  more  than  almost  any 
thing  else  to  weaken  and  pervert  the  moral  sense 
of  the  nation.  The  deteriorating  process  has  been 
going  on  with  prodigious  rapidity  within  the  last 
few  years.  One  is  astonished  to  look  back  over  re- 
cent political  conflicts,  and  observe  the  callous  in- 
sensibility to  moral  considerations,  the  utter  indif- 
ference to  corruption,  fraud,  wrong,  cruelty,  and 
crime  displayed  by  milKons  of  the  people — mil- 


400  POLITICS    AND    THE    PULPIT. 

lions  who  think  themselves,  and  are  looked  upon  by 
others,  as  highly  respectable,  moral,  and  religious. 
This  demoralization  is  likely  to  go  on  with  increas- 
ing rapidity,  unless  some  stronger  influences  can 
be  brought  to  check  its  progress. 

This  is  the  reason  we  have  taken  the  subject 
up.  It  is  infinitely  important  to  the  salvation  of 
the  nation  that  the  pulpit  should  be  free,  that  its 
voice  should  be  heard — one  great  strong  voice — 
against  all  public  wickedness.  If  the  clergy  would 
unitedly  speak  out,  continually  enforcing  upon  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  the  tremendous  responsi- 
bility that  rests  upon  them,  more  than  upon  any 
other  people  on  the  globe,  for  the  character  of  the 
government  and  the  destiny  of  the  nation,  they 
might  have  an  immense  influence  for  good.  If  they 
do  not  thus  speak  out,  we  are  not  sure  but  they 
will  have  to  give  way  to  something  better,  or  to 
something  worse. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX 


VIOLENCE  AND  ABUSE  OF  SUFFRAGE. 

Lest  the  statements  made  in  several  places  in  the  fore- 
going volume — and  particularly  on  pages  225 — 229 — ^re- 
specting the  corrupt  working  and  demoralizing  influence 
of  our  political  system,  should  be  thought  overcharged, 
and  my  expressions  too  unmeasured,  I  subjoin  some  ex- 
tracts from  the  New  York  Times.  They  are  merely  spe- 
cimens. I  could  fill  a  volume  with  undeniable  facts  of  a 
similar  kind,  occurring  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  es- 
pecially in  New  York  and  other  great  cities. 

As  the  information  may  be  needful  for  readers  in  other 
countries,  I  may  mention  that  the  distinctive  object  of  the 
so-called  "  American  "  party,  is  the  exclusion  of  all  except 
native-born  Americans  from  the  exercise  of  sufi'rage,  and 
from  the  holding  of  public  office.  Also  :  that  none  but 
"  naturalized  "  foreigners  have  the  legal  right  of  voting. 


404  APPENDIX. 

This  is  the  party  in  whose  interest  foreigners — and  some 
of  them  unnaturalized — were  captured,  and  caged,  and 
beaten,  and  drugged,  and  driven  to  the  polls  by  armed 
brutes  and  rufl&ans,  as  may  be  seen  below !  A  spectacle 
not  only  of  unblushing  disregard  of  all  moral  principles, 
but  also  of  their  own  fundamental  and  proclaimed  politi- 
cal principles ! 

A  Baltimore  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times, 
Jan.  18,  1860,  says : 

A  book,  embracing  nearly  four  hundred  pages,  in  the 
form  of  testimony  legally  rendered  and  elicited,  narrating 
incidents  of  fraud,  violence,  etc.,  at  our  recent  State  election 
in  Baltimore,  has  just  been  published.  It  is  designed  to  be 
offered  to  the  State  General  Assembly  as  evidence,  by  Re- 
formers contesting  their  seats  in  that  body,  and  will  tell 
strongly  against  Hon.  Henry  Winter  Davis  and  Hon.  J. 
Morrison  Harris,  when  called  upon  to  defend  the  right  to 
their  seats  in  Congress.  This  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  rich- 
est productions  of  the  present  century.  Never  was  more 
rascality  and  political  knavery  compressed  within  the  same 
number  of  pages.  It  shows  the  election  to  hj^e  been  a 
monstrous  fraud,  effected  through  instrumentalities  which 
should  cast  a  blush  upon  the  cheek  of  Satan  himself  I 
have  never  read  its  like  before,  and  never  expect  to  again. 
A  full  insight  is  given  into  the  mystery  of  "  cooping." 
Tbese  details  are  in  minuticB,  and  though  blistering  with 
shame,  are  so  novel,  so  foul,  so  ridiculous  withal,  so  funny, 
so  graphic,  that  they  would  make  a  saint,  however  digni- 
fied and  solemnized,  burst  into  irresistible  laughter.     Mun- 


APPENDIX.  405 

chausen  sinks  into  insignificance  compared  with  it.  Cir- 
cumstances are  told  and  sworn  to  which  would  make  the 
quills  start  from  the  fretful  porcupine.  After  perusing 
this  document,  it  is  easy  to  account  for  the  sway  rowdy- 
ism has  had  in  our  metropolis. 

From  the  volume  above  referred  to,  I  give  an  extract 
or  two,  as  taken  from  the  Times  : 

ELECTION  FRAUDS  REDUCED  TO  A  SYSTEM VOTERS  IN  DURESS. 

The  testimony  taken  in  the  investigation  of  the  recent 
election  frauds  in  Baltimore  was  laid  before  the  Legisla- 
ture a  few  days  since.  It  bears  directly  upon  the  case  of 
the  contested  seats  of  members  of  the  Legislature  from 
Baltimore  City,  and  develops  a  systematic  plan  of  rascal- 
ity.    "We  copy  from  the  Baltimore  American  : 

TESTIMONY  OF  PETER  FITZPATKICK. 

This  witness  is  an  unnaturalized  Irishman,  who  had 
lived  18  months  in  the  city. 

Question. — Did  you  vote  at  the  election  on  November 
2,  1859,  and  if  so,  in  what  ward? 

Answer. — I  was  compelled  to  vote  the  American 
ticket  in  the  Tenth  ward. 

Question. — How  many  nights  previous  to  the  election 
did  you  spend  in  the  Tenth  ward  ? 

Answer. — I  was  cooped  there  four  nights  and  three 
days. 

Question. — ^Where  and  by  whom  were  you  cooped  ? 

Answer. — It  was  between  Baltimore  and  Fayette 
streets,  on  Holiday  street,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge, 
by  this  here  party  of  "  Ras  Levy's  "  and  "  John  English's  " 


406 


APPENDIX. 


crowd ;  I  don't  know  many  of  them,  but  I  know  a  few  of 
them. 

Question. — State  the  circumstances  of  your  being 
cooped  and  having  voted  ? 

Answer. — They  took  mc  on  Saturday  night  before  the 
election,  dealt  me  two  blows  with  a  billy  on  the  head  and 
two  on  the  knees,  to  make  me  drink  liquor;  and  after 
they  compelled  me  to  drink,  they  made  me  take  oath  on 
the  Holy  Evangelists  I  wouldn't  tell  any  thing  I  saw 
down  there  after  they  let  me  out ;  then  they  put  me  down 
in  a  big  cellar,  and  put  me  through  a  hole  in  the  wall 
into  the  next  dwelling,  which  was  unoccupied  on  the 
second  story ;  when  I  got  in  there,  there  were  about  fif- 
teen in  there  before  me,  and  from  fifteen,  up  to  Wednes- 
day, the  number  increased,  until,  to  the  best  of  my  knowl- 
edge, they  had  about  eighty  or  ninety :  and,  on  Wednes- 
day morning,  they  took  us  out  six  at  a  time,  to  vote  the 
American  ticket ;  I  told  them  I  wasn't  entitled  to  a  vote, 
and  they  said  if  I  wouldn't  vote  I  should  die ;  there  was 
a  good  many  others  that  they  served  in  the  same  way ; 
knocked  them  down  with  billies  and  slung  shots,  and  took 
their  money  and  their  watches ;  I  am  a  good  Reformer, 
and  if  I  had  not  had  a  wife  and  two  children,  /  would 
rather  have  died  than  have  voted  their  American  ticket  / 
as  soon  as  the  polls  were  opened,  they  were  looking  out 
of  the  windows,  and  they  fired  on  the  Reformers,  and  af- 
ter the  firing  was  over,  they  came  up  and  took  us  out  six 
at  a  time  to  vote ;  after  I  had  voted,  and  I  was  one  of  the 
first  six  that  came  out,  one  of  them  told  me  to  go  home — 
which  I  did ;  in  the  afternoon  I  was  taken  sick  and  had 
to  go  to  bed,  and  stayed  there  until  next  day ;  I  was  wea- 
ried, and  the  kind  of  stuff  they  gave  \is  to  eat  and  drink 


APPENDIX.  407 

would  have  sickened  a  horse ;  they  brought  up  liquor  hy 
the  bucket  fully  and  only  gave  us  half  enough  to  eat. 

A   VICTIM   OF    THE    "  ROUGHSKINS." 

The  evidence  of  J.  Justus  Ritzmin  shows  that  this 
witness  was  also  "  cooped  "  and  compelled  to  vote.  He 
testifies : 

On  Monday  morning,  about  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  I 
was  near  the  sugar-house,  where  I  was  at  work,  and  had 
no  work  there  to  do ;  I  therefore  went  to  the  State  to- 
bacco warehouse,  and  inquired  of  a  German  at  work  there 
whether  I  could  get  any  work ;  he  pointed  to  a  young 
man  in  the  warehouse,  and  told  me  to  apply  to  him ;  con- 
sequently I  went  to  him,  and  he  engaged  me  to  work  there 
at  $6  a  week  for  the  whole  year ;  I  went  to  tvork,  and  at 
about  eleven  o'clock  he  told  me  that  work  would  be 
stopped  at  four  o'clock,  and  that  we  would  go  to  another 
warehouse  on  the  Point ;  after  a  while  he  told  me  to  come 
along  with  him,  and  that  I  might  either  put  on  my  coat 
or  leave  it  in  the  office  ;  three  others  and  myself  got  into 
a  boat,  went  over  the  dock,  and  then  crossed  over  Union 
dock,  and  so  went  to  the  comer  of  Wilk  and  Caroline 
streets ;  he  stood  there  with  us  awhile,  took  me  by  the 
arm,  and  then  led  me  and  the  two  others  into  a  house  there 
to  a  bar,  where  we  were  treated ;  while  I  was  drinking, 
another  man  present  in  the  house  said  to  me,  "  As  soon 
as  the  work  here  is  done  you  can  go  back  to  the  other 
warehouse ;  "  after  a  while  our  conductor  came  and  led  us 
through  the  back  of  the  house  into  a  court-yard,  and  then, 
apparently  through  one  or  two  yards,  until  we  came  in 
front  of  a  crowd  of  men,  about  five  or  six,  armed  with 
clubs,  and  guns,  and  other  weapons,  standing  at  a  sort  of 


408  APPENDIX. 

entrance  through  the  fence  or  partition  between  two 
houses ;  immediately  I  was  pushed  from  behind,  and 
caught  by  the  arm  by  one  of  the  crowd,  and  dragged 
through  the  opening ;  at  the  same  time  another  German, 
not  one  who  had  accompanied  us,  was  pushed  through  im- 
mediately behind  me ;  the  conductor  and  the  two  others 
I  saw  no  more ;  after  we  had  been  got  through  the  open- 
ing into  the  next  house,  as  I  have  stated,  another  man 
came  and  led  us  into  a  little  darh  room^  where  we  were 
Jcept  a  few  minutes  ;  while  we  were  there,  the  man  with 
me  began  to  make  a  noise,  trying  to  break  the  planks  out, 
etc. ;  immediately  thereupon  the  door  opened,  and  three 
or  four  men  appeared,  one  of  whom  struck  the  poor  fel- 
low on  the  head  with  a  club,  which  felled  him  to  the 
ground ;  a  second  one  raised  an  axe  and  struck  at  him 
through  the  doorway ;  seeing  the  intention  of  the  man,  I 
pushed  the  door  to,  so  as  to  intercept  the  blow,  which 
fell  upon  the  door,  beat  it  back  against  my  mouth,  and 
hurt  my  lips  severely ;  the  party  then  came  in  and  searched 
us  thoroughly,  taking  every  thing  of  any  value  from  us  ; 
I  had  only  a  small  pocket-knife,  which  they  took ;  my 
companion  they  made  strip,  and  as  he  drew  off  his  shoe 
his  money  fell  out,  a  few  quarters  and  some  small  money ; 
we  were  left  locked  in  for  a  while ;  then  the  captain  of 
the  coop  came,  opened  the  door,  and  led  us  down  stairs 
to  a  small  trap-door,  which  led  to  the  cellar  ;  we  were 
put  down  there,  and  as  we  were  going  down,  I  in  front, 
my  companion  was  pushed  down  violently,  and  falling 
against  me,  we  both  tumbled  down  into  the  cellar ;  here 
we  found  ourselves  in  a  dark  hole,  full  of  all  sorts  of 
men,  with  one  solitary  candle  to  give  us  light  ;  there  I 
was  kept  until  Tuesday  afternoon,  when  the  captain 
came  down  and  selected  the  oldest  of  us ;  I  was  called  by 


APPENDIX.  409 

name,  and  led  up  stairs  to  the  second  story,  and  put  into 
a  large  room,  which  was  also  full  of  persons  who  were 
similarly  cooped ;  there  I  was  kept  until  "Wednesday  morn- 
ing, the  day  of  the  last  election ;  on  Wednesday  morning, 
after  nine  o'clock,  we  were  brought  out  by  threes  and 
fours,  and  had  tickets  put  into  our  hands ;  I  examined  the 
tickets  which  were  given  me,  and  know  they  were  "  Amer- 
ican "  tickets  ;  I  recognized  them  by  the  names  of  the 
candidates,  the  black  stripe  down  their  length,  the  head 
of  Washington  at  the  top,  and  the  extreme  narrowness  of 
the  ticket ;  three  others  and  myself  were  brought  out,  and 
led  by  the  rowdies  holding  us  by  the  arm,  up  to  the  win- 
dow of  the  Second  Ward  polls,  and  voted ;  we  four  then 
were  put  into  a  carriage,  and  driven  around  through  the 
town,  through  streets  which  I  did  not  know,  to  various 
polls,  and  we  were  voted  five  or  six  times  ;  we  were  then 
driven  to  the  Holiday  street  polls,  voted  again,  and  then 
shut  up  in  the  coop  there  next  to  the  polls,  in  the  cellar ; 
we  were  then  brought  up  into  a  room,  and  ordered  by  the 
captain  of  the  coop  to  change  clothes  with  some  seven  or 
eight  other  cooped  individuals,  which  most  of  us  did,  but 
I  retained  my  own  clothes ;  the  captain  changed  clothes 
with  a  G-erman,  taking  a  nice  hat  and  black  overcoat,  in 
exchange  for  his  cap  and  coat,  which  were  of  little  value ; 
we  were  then  voted  again  at  these  polls,  and  then  we 
were  led  on  foot  to  Baltimore  street,  where  an  omnibus 
awaited  us,  and  we  were  packed  in  till  it  was  full,  and 
driven  down  to  the  coop-house  at  the  Second  ward  again ; 
arrived  there  we  voted  again  at  the  Second  ward,  and 
then  we  were  driven  around  in  the  omnibus  to  various 
polls  and  voted  some  six  times,  until  we  came  to  a  poll 
the  other  side  of  Ensor  street,  where  there  was  a  great 
crowd,  hustling  and  pushing,  screaming,  etc.,  in  spite  of 
18 


410  APPENDIX. 

which  we  were  led  up  by  the  arm,  by  the  rowdies,  through 
the  crowd  and  compelled  to  vote  ;  I  was  let  go  for  a  mo- 
ment, while  the  rowdies  who  had  held  me  joined  in  the 
hustling  and  pushing,  and  seeing  the  chance  I  dodged 
into  the  crowd  and  escaped  to  my  home;  I  voted  at  least, 
in  the  various  wards,  sixteen  times,  compelled  each  time 
to  give  a  different  name  ;  none  of  the  judges  said  any 
thing  to  me,  or  any  of  us,  that  I  heard,  except  one  judge 
at  the  polls  near  Ensor  street,  who  asked  me  how  long  I 
had  lived  in  the  city ;  I  told  him  two  years ;  the  rowdies 
behind  me  said  to  him,  "  All  right !  all  right !  "  and  the 
judge  took  the  ticket  without  further  question ;  the  treat- 
ment of  some  of  those  in  the  coop  was  disgusting  and  hor- 
rible in  the  extreme;  7nen  were  beaten,  kicked  and 
stamped  in  the  face  with  heavy  boots  ;  in  the  cellar  of  the 
Second  ward  there  were  about  seventy  or  eighty  persons 
locked  up,  not  allowed  to  be  absent  for  a  moment  to  sat- 
isfy the  wants  of  nature,  and  in  the  upper  room  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  as  many  more ;  the  three  men  who  were 
with  me  voted,  each  of  them,  as  often  as  I  did. 

Question. — Give  the  names  of  any  of  the  parties  on 
the  tickets  which  you  voted  ? 

Answer. — I  read  Harris  on  some  of  them,  and  Davis 
on  some  of  them,  and  the  name  of  Colson ;  I  do  not  re- 
member precisely ;  and  Whitney's  name  was  also  on  them. 

Patrick  Finnigan  testified  as  follows  : 

Question. — Where  were  you  taken  by  the  parties  who 
cooped  you  ? 

Answer. — I  could  not  say  exactly,  but  it  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Gay  street. 

Question. — What  did  they  then  do  with  you  ? 

Answer. — They  took  me  down  along  Gay  street  to 


APPENDIX.  411 

the  double  pump  near  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  and  there  I 
called  out  '*  Watch;  "  a  policeman  came,  and  then  they 
let  me  go ;  I  went  round  to  the  watch-house  and  told 
Captain  Brashears  all  about  it,  and  that  the  parties  had 
pretended  to  arrest  me  for  a  murderer ;  he  told  me  to 
come  down  the  next  morning  and  see  if  I  could  recognize 
them  and  make  a  charge  against  them ;  I  then  left  the 
watch-house ;  when  I  got  outside  I  met  two  men,  one  of 
whom  I  knew,  and  they  insisted  on  my  going  along  with 
them,  and  took  me  down  to  Holliday  street,  between  Fay- 
ette and  Baltimore  streets,  put  me  in  a  room  in  "  Has 
Levy's  "  house,  and  kept  me  there  until  the  morning  of 
election ;  in  two  rooms  there  were  about  sixty  or  seventy 
other  persons  cooped;  they  heat  me  severely  loith  billies 
and  espantoons,  and  I  had  the  marks  on  my  body  for 
some  two  weeks ;  on  the  morning  of  election,  they  took 
me  out,  right  after  the  firing,  and  made  me  vote  ;  the  man 
who  held  me  did  not  want  to  let  me  go,  but  a  gentleman 
came  over,  and  insisted  on  my  being  let  go,  and  so  I  was 

Question. — ^While  you  were  in  the  coop,  did  you  see 
John  Hinesly  there  ? 

Answer. — I  did;  I  saw  him  there  on  Saturday  night, 
when  I  was  taken  in ;  I  then  called  to  him  by  name,  but 
he  wouldn't  say  any  thing  to  me,  and  then  they  beat  me ; 
he  went  out  for  a  little  while,  and  came  back  afterwards ; 
I  saw  him  in  the  coop  afterwards ;  I  think  it  was  Tues- 
day, or  it  may  have  been  on  Monday ;  there  were  others 
cooped  besides  myself  in  the  room  when  Hinesly  was  in 
there. 

The  New  York  Times  of  Jan.  19,  1860,  has  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  upon  the  facts  of  which  the  foregoing  are 
a  sample : 


412  APPENDIX. 

THE    BEAUTIES    OP    BALTIMOEE    VOTING. 

The  authorities  of  Baltimore  are  now  edifying  their 
fellow-citizens  and  the  world  with  an  inquiry  into  the  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  the  late  election  in  that  city. 
The  results  already  attained  afford  a  curious  commentary 
upon  the  indignation  to  which  certain  of  the  Baltimore 
partisan  journals  gave  way  on  finding  that  the  independ- 
ent Press  of  the   country  had  ventured  to   question  the 
propriety,  decorum,  and  civilization,  displayed  by  the  Plug- 
Uglies,  Awl  Clubs  and  other  agreeable  associations  of 
Baltimorean  sovereigns,  upon  that  occasion.     The  editor 
of  the  Baltimore  Exchange^  as  our  readers  will  remember, 
was  forced  to  defend  himself  from  the  assaults  of  some  of 
these  offended  depositaries  of  political  power,  by  a  recourse 
to  the  "  last  argument  of  Kings,"  simply  and  solely  because 
he  had  shown  manliness  in  admitting,  and  good  citizen- 
ship in  denouncing,  the  outrages  perpetrated  at  the  polls 
upon  unarmed  voters.    •  The  New  York  Times  was  in  a 
like  spirit  set  upon  by  some  of  its  contemporaries  for 
calling  attention  to  the  shame  and  peril  of  such  occur- 
rences in  a  great  American  city.     It  now  appears  that 
the  system  of  intimidation  by  personal  violence  has  be- 
come thoroughly  organized  in  the  Monumental  City;  and 
that  the  excesses  of  Baltimore  elections  are  not  to  be 
treated  as  mere  sporadic  cases  of  popular  ebullition.     The 
Jacobin   Clubs    of    France   were   not   more  *  thoroughly 
drilled  in  the  art  and  mystery  of  harmonizing  public  opin- 
ion than  are  the  so-called  "  Americans,"  of  Baltimore. 
Several  days  before  the  late  election,  these  indefatigable 
men  were  in  the  field.     They  scoured  the  city,  as  eagerly 
bent  upon  finding  "  foreigners,"  as  any  Dublin  oysterman 
upon  dredging  for   "  natives."     Irishmen,   Germans,  all 


APPENDIX.  '  413 

who  fell  in  their  way,  were  harpooned,  carried  off  to  sub- 
terranean cells,  locked  up,  compelled  from  time  to  time  to 
drink  great  quantities  of  whiskey — reduced,  in  short,  to  a 
state  of  complete  submission.  When  the  day  of  election 
came,  these  captives  were  paraded  openly  in  the  streets, 
in  custody  of  a  guards  with  cocked  revolvers,  marched 
from  poll  to  poll,  forced  to  vote  five  or  six  times  over,  re- 
turned to  their  dungeons,  beaten  again,  and  finally  released 
when  the  great  issue  had  been  decided,  and  the  "  unbought 
voice  of  freemen  "  had  selected  the  officers  by  whom  the 
laws  of  an  American  community  were  to  be  administered 
and  its  rights  defended.  All  this  took  place  in  a  wealthy 
city,  in  open  day,  under  the  eyes  of  an  organized  City 
Grovernment,  and  in  defiance  of  every  functionary  known 
to  the  law. 

Is  it  not  time  for  thinking  men  to  ask  themselves 
whether  such  things  as  these  are  the  legitimate  results  of 
popular  institutions?  We  talk  about  the  subjects  of 
Austrian  despotism' with  a  large  commiseration;  but  the 
peasant  of  the  Tyrol  or  Steyermark  is  at  least  spared  the 
degradation  of  being  whipped  into  outraging  the  institu- 
tions under  which  he  lives.  If  an  irresponsible  empire 
of  sheer  physical  force  is  to  be  established  in  an  Ameri- 
can city,  it  is,  at  least,  worth  thinking  of  whether  it  would 
not  be  better  for  all  parties  concerned  that  such  an  empire 
should  be  confided  to  the  most  enlightened,  instead  of  the 
most  brutal  classes  of  the  population.  A  man  who  is 
driven  through  the  streets  by  an  arbitrary  master,  is 
plainly  a  slave  ;  but  a  slave  who  moves  at  the  point  of  le- 
gitimate bayonets  is  surely  more  respectable,  in  his  own 
eyes,  than  a  slave  who  is  goaded  onward  bjRhe  sharpened 
awls  of  a  knot  of  vulgar  desperadoes. 

The  only  parallels  which  can  be  found  in  recent  times 


414 


APPENDIX. 


for  such  proceedings  as  these  in  Baltimore,  must  be  looked 
for  in  some  of  the  recent  Parliamentary  elections  of  Eng- 
land and  Ireland.  There,  too,  voters  were  seized  in 
squads,  drugged  with  beer,  and  driven  in  carriages,  dumb 
and  unresisting,  to  vote  for  whomsoever  it  pleased  their 
captors  to  nominate.  There,  too,  as  in  the  case  of  Admi- 
ral Walters,  at  Cheltenham,  voters  suspected  of  inde- 
pendence were  mobbed  away  from  the  polls,  and  the  suf- 
frages of  freemen  secured  with  the  club  and  the  horse- 
whip. But  there  is  this  special  feature  in  the  Baltimorean 
outrages,  that  they  were  committed  on  a  great  scale, 
openly,  avowedly,  with  the  air  of  a  chronic  institution. 
Nor  is  this  all. 

The  inquiry  which  has  brought  these  facts  to  light  is, 
we  believe,  an  inquiry  simply  into  the  legality  of  the  elec- 
tion. It  is  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  proposed  to  base  upon 
it  any  measures  for  the  punishment  or  repression  of  these 
horrible  disorders,  unless  a  Metropolitan  Police  bill,  in 
imitation  of  our  own,  may  be  so  considered.  But  we  think 
there  can  be  no  question  in  the  mind  of  any  man  as  to  the 
necessity  for  some  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature 
as  shall  either  deprive  voting  in  Baltimore  of  its  present 
sanguinary  incidents — make  it,  in  short,  less  terrible  than 
actual  service  in  the  field  against  an  invading  army,  or 
else  relieve  the  poor,  helpless,  unoffending  inhabitants 
from  the  duty  of  voting  at  all.  It  appears  from  the  evi- 
dence before  us,  that  a  waiver  of  one's  constitutional 
rights  last  fall  did  not  furnish  a  peaceable  Baltimorean 
with  the  least  immunity  from  the  horrors  and  dangers  of 
election  day.  In  vain  he  stayed  at  home  and  left  politics 
to  the  rowdieHlnd  blackguards.  The  rowdies  and  black- 
guards would  not  permit  him  to  abdicate,  and  knocked 
and  cuffed,  and  stabbed  and  shot  him  into  the  repeated  ex- 


APPENDIX.  415 

ercise  of  his  privileges  as  a  citizen.  To  those  who  went 
through  this  ordeal,  the  condition  of  a  free  negro,  upon 
one  day  in  the  year  at  least,  must  seem  positively  envia- 
ble. "What  a  caricature  upon  "  the  nature  and  tendency  " 
of  free  institutions,  might  be  composed  in  a  sketch  of  dis- 
franchised, despised  Sambo,  grinning  in  his  morning  lounge, 
at  the  spectacle  of  Anglo-Saxon  sovereigns,  dragged,  bat- 
tered, bruised,  bleeding,  in  the  custody  of  a  gang  of  armed 
criminals  to  deposit  their  votes 

— "Like  snow-flakes  on  the  silent  sod," 

and  thus'  perform  one  of  those  functions  which  Sambo  is 
taught  that  nobody  but  a  white  man  can  fulfil  with  credit ! 
Baltimore  furnishes  the  world  with  one  more  splendid 
example  of  the  beauties  of  the  "  Municipal  system."  She 
is  overrun  by  organized  bands  of  ruffians  and  convicts  of 
the  worst  kind ;  her  elections  are  conducted  under  their 
auspices ;  her  citizens  hold  their  lives  and  property  at 
their  mercy ;  her  streets  are  rendered  dangerous  night  and 
day  by  their  brawls  ;  but  to  compensate  her  for  these  evils, 
for  the  conversion  of  society  itself  into  a  curse  and  a  peril, 
she  has  her  Municipal  system  intact,  and  her  Mayor  and 
Common  Council  appoint  the  police  force. 


THE      END. 


^6. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642^405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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